By Alixel Cabrera | Reporter
The U.S. Department of Justice has another bone to pick with the state. The agency sued Utah this week, alongside two other states and the District of Columbia for allowing immigrants without permanent legal status to access in-state college tuition and scholarships.
The legal battles are the latest efforts from the Trump administration to ban the practice. Allowing the policy, the agency’s attorneys say, discriminates against U.S. citizens from out of state.
In this weekend’s Dispatch we look at the Department of Justice’s lawsuit filed this week and bring you our top stories of the week, including the same federal agency’s letter to Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson over her resistance to hand over sensitive voter data, and how campus safety reviews are still TBD after Charlie Kirk’s shooting at UVU.
“Utah taxpayers should not be footing the bill for benefits extended to individuals who are here illegally. Our taxpayer dollars should prioritize Utah citizens.”— Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz on a DOJ lawsuit against Utah for granting in-state college tuition and scholarships to immigrants without permanent legal status.
The A. Ray Olpin Student Union building on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City is pictured on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
By Annie Knox
Utah universities allow students to pay a discounted in-state tuition if they graduated in Utah after also attending high school in the state for at least three years. Proponents of the policy say the practice doesn’t change any academic requirements and allow students to pay the same rate as the classmates they grew up with.
In addition to the Trump administration’s interest to stop the practice, the Utah Legislature has also taken a look at it and may continue that debate next year.
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