Massachusetts Expand Eligibility to In-State Tuition to Non Citizens

The State of Massachusetts, recently has declared tuition equity to all the students of the state.  

The Government of the State of Massachusetts, through the Department of Higher Education has allowed students who have attended Massachusetts high school for at least three years and have earned Massachusetts diploma or it equivalent eligibility to in-state tuition.  

This new rules ensure that non US citizens, in as much as  they have  attended high school in the Commonwealth for three years and earn diploma are eligible to pay in-state tuition and access financial aid rates at any of the state public higher institution of learning. 

A publication by the Department of Higher Education, State of Massachusetts read that

Massachusetts has expanded access to in-state tuition rates, as well as to state financial aid programming, for all students who have attended high school in the Commonwealth for at least three (3) years, obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent in Massachusetts, and met certain other documentation requirements. While students across the Commonwealth will benefit from this expanded access to affordable higher education, the Tuition Equity Law notably carves a pathway to in-state tuition rates and state financial aid for certain non-US citizen students, including undocumented students, who have attended high school in Massachusetts for at least three (3) years and earned a high school diploma (or the equivalent) in the Commonwealth. 

Tuition at all the college and universities in Massachusetts are three type: 1. in-state tuition 2. out-of-state tuition and  3. international students tuition. Among the three, in-state tuition is the smallest, sometime half of what out-of-state will pay and it is benefited by only the residents of the Massachusetts and to be considered a resident of Massachusetts three condition must be met and they are : 

  1. A person must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or lawful immigrant or  have another legal immigration status or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status. 
  2. A person or his parent (if a dependent student) must have lived in Massachusetts for the 12 months immediately before enrollment at a state university or for 6 months before enrollment at a community college.
  3. A person or his parent (if a dependent student) must intend to make Massachusetts their permanent home.  

Note: No 1 above applied before no 2 and no 3. 


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