Fact-checking Florida Sen. Randy Fine’s claim that immigrant tuition waivers costs state $40 million

As Florida Republicans continue to fight about whose plan is best to help President Donald Trump on immigration, one group hangs in the balance: immigrants in the country illegally who attend Florida public colleges. 

If signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis — who has threatened to veto it — the Legislature’s immigration bill would revoke a 2014 law that lets immigrants in the country illegally who meet certain conditions pay in-state college tuition rates, which are typically much lower than out-of-state rates. The Legislature could override a DeSantis veto.

One supporter of eliminating the law, state Sen. Randy Fine, R-Brevard, said during a Jan. 28 special session the waiver encourages illegal immigration.

While listing reasons for eliminating the law, Fine, who cosponsored the immigration bill, said: "Number one: it costs money. … We estimate $41 million dollars."

During the special session, state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, pressed Fine on that point, saying, "You’ve mentioned several times that we’re going to be saving $41 million. … So, you’re saying once we repeal in-state tuition we are going to get that $41 million back into the general revenue so we can reappropriate that, right? We are going to be saving as a state."

Fine said, "The universities would get to keep the $41 million. All tuition in the state goes directly to the universities."

PolitiFact contacted Fine’s office to ask about the $41 million figure’s source. His office sent us the Senate analysis of the immigration bill, which estimated that for the 2023-24 fiscal year the value of the waived out-of-state fees totaled about $40.6 million.

But that is not the same as the state paying that amount for the program.

The Senate analysis also says the fiscal impact of repealing the provision cannot be determined because it would be hard to identify exactly how many students would be affected. The waivers don’t identify the students by immigration status, but the in-state tuition waiver for immigrants in the country illegally has steep requirements to qualify, so experts believe only that group would apply for it.

"The revenue impact will also depend on the behavior of affected students," and whether they choose to reenroll without waivers, the analysis concludes. "While the cumulative amount of the fee waivers was more than $40 million in (fiscal year) 2023-2024, it is not clear that institutions will receive that revenue with the changes to the fee waiver."

Florida’s in-state college tuition waiver

In 2014, then-Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, signed House Bill 851, allowing immigrants in the country illegally to pay in-state college tuition rates if they meet certain requirements. "Students that grew up in our state are going to get the same in-state tuition as their peers, which is what's fair," Scott said.

Florida, which is among 25 states with similar "tuition-equity" laws, offers a number of student waivers. The one given to immigrants in the country illegally is the 5012 nonresident waiver.

To qualify, students must prove that they graduated from a Florida high school, spent at least three consecutive years in Florida schools immediately before graduating and applied to a higher education institution within 24 months of high school graduation. (Immigrants in the country illegally remain ineligible for Florida scholarships such as Bright Futures and federal financial aid.)

The waiver’s requirements are stricter than those for legal residents and U.S. citizens, who must show they’ve lived in the state for at least 12 months before the academic term.

In-state tuition costs around $3,000 for Florida’s community colleges and $6,000 for public universities. Out-of-state tuition rates can cost more than three times as much. 

Will eliminating the waiver save the state money?

The Florida Policy Institute, a center-left research organization, said in a Jan. 15 report that "contrary to how some state lawmakers have recently framed the fiscal impact of these waivers," allowing immigrants in the country illegally to access in-state tuition "has not cost the state money." Instead, the institute estimated that the waiver has "generated millions in revenue for institutions experiencing drops in enrollment and financial strain."

Take the Florida College System, previously known as community colleges. About 4,500 students used the in-state tuition waiver at those schools during the 2023-24 academic year, bringing in about $14.7 million in tuition, according to Florida Policy Institute’s calculation.

Enrollment at the 28-member college system remains 11% below prepandemic levels and education experts say it’s unlikely that enough new students would enroll to replace immigrants in the country illegally.

"There are no students ‘waiting in the wings’ to replace tuition paid by these students and the potential for colleges to lose out on this revenue is high," the Florida Policy Institute said in its report.

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The Florida Policy Institute and Senate analysis arrived at their waiver value estimates in different ways. The Senate’s analysis appears to reflect the difference between out-of-state and in-state tuition for students who received the waivers.

The Florida Policy Institute estimated how much students receiving waivers paid in tuition by multiplying the number of students who received the waiver in the 2023-24 academic year by the average cost of in-state tuition. The organization estimated that about 6,500 immigrants in the country illegally used the waiver to attend Florida’s colleges and state universities, paying about $26.7 million in in-state tuition and fees.

"It is misleading to say the waivers ‘cost’ $40.6 million because in reality, if students are not offered this waiver, many will not attend school in Florida at all," said Alexis Tsoukalas, a senior policy analyst at Florida Policy Institute and author of the brief. 

Florida colleges and universities are supported by Florida residents’ taxes, so "state residents can attend public institutions at a lower cost than those not residents of the state," according to the Florida Department of Education. In Florida, immigrants in the country illegally paid about $1.8 billion in state and local taxes in 2022.

Our ruling

Fine said Florida’s in-state college tuition waiver for immigrants in the country illegally costs the state $41 million.

One analysis shows that the value of the waivers was more than $40 million in fiscal year 2023-24. That doesn’t mean the state paid that amount for the program. The program does not technically cost the state money.

Fine’s statement has an element of truth in that if the waiver is eliminated, public colleges and universities could receive more money in tuition payments from immigrants in the country illegally if they still chose to enroll, or other students wanting to enroll in the institutions. 

But education policy experts estimate that revoking the provision would likely cause colleges and universities to lose revenue. There likely aren’t enough students to enroll to make up for the loss of immigrants in the country illegally, who might not be able to afford tuition without the waiver. Many of Florida’s colleges already have enrollment numbers below pre-pandemic levels.

We rate this claim Mostly False.