State lawmakers on the Education Committee narowly passed a bill that grants in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.

The out-of-state tuition for undocumented students is almost three times higher than the charge for in-state students to attend the University of Connecticut, Connecticut State University System and the dozen community colleges.

Before the vote, lawmakers expressed concerns that changing the tuition rate may result in fewer Connecticut residents having a seat in college, it cost universities and colleges substantially and it would make the state vulnerable to a lawsuit.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic leadership strongly support for the proposal. Dozens of people showed up earlier this week to testify in support of the bill.

The proposal was narrowly voted out of the committee 11-8, mostly along party lines, to the Appropriations Committee to consider.

Jacqueline was CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter, and an original member of the CT Mirror staff, joining shortly before our January 2010 launch. Her awards include the best-of-show Theodore A. Driscoll Investigative Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 for reporting on inadequate inmate health care, first-place for investigative reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020 for reporting on housing segregation, and two first-place awards from the National Education Writers Association in 2012. She was selected for a prestigious, year-long Propublica Local Reporting Network grant in 2019, exploring a range of affordable and low-income housing issues. Before joining CT Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.

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