Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

In the United States, there is a heated debate over whether to extend in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants. Among the concerns are the effect on tuition growth rates of increased demand, the effect on native residents in competing for class slots and skilled jobs, and the effect on the state budget. We use these concerns as a starting point to analyze the impact of immigrants on American universities.

This research agenda involves panel analysis, measuring the difference in tuition increases, economic output, natives’ wages, tax revenue, and other relevant variables across different institutions and geographies over time, controlling for standard variables such as population, initial income level, region fixed effects, and so on.

Previous studies have measured the effect of in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants on college enrollment, tuition costs, student financial aid, and indebtedness, as well as the effect on educational outcomes of the immigrants. To our knowledge, no study exists that measures the effect on larger economic and fiscal variables, nor the larger question of how immigrants affect natives’ educational and labor market outcomes in the long run. Our research fills these important needs.