Currently, very few undocumented citizens in Wisconsin attend state colleges, because of the existing requirement forcing them to pay significantly higher out-of-state tuition. Many of the 450 to 600 undocumented immigrants who graduate from Wisconsin high schools every year would be accepted to various state universities, and the additional tuition revenue would be a welcome addition to the University of Wisconsin system.

The provision would apply to students who have lived in Wisconsin for at least three years, graduated from Wisconsin high schools, and otherwise meet the same admission criteria applied to other state residents. Undocumented immigrants must also provide proof that they will apply for citizenship upon their earliest eligibility to do so. While this final qualification requirement becomes the sticking point for many who oppose Doyle’s provision, it’s irrelevant to the issue. The UW system should strive to recruit students who graduated from Wisconsin high schools, meet their admission requirements, and who want to better their lives through education. Applying for citizenship or not doesn’t adversely impact any of the above benefits to the UW system or to Wisconsin as a whole.

Wisconsin is hardly leading the way on this issue. If the Legislature preserves Doyle’s provision, Wisconsin would be the 11th state in the country to allow in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.

Doyle’s objectors like to conveniently inflame sentiment against immigrants in Wisconsin, by acting as though such a proposal would effectively give state taxpayer money to the children of undocumented immigrants. But according to the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the plan could increase tuition revenue. This makes logical sense, because 100 undocumented immigrants attending state schools and paying in-state tuition amounts to far more revenue than five to 10 undocumented immigrants attending state schools and paying out-of-state tuition. Even using conservative estimates of a 20 percent college attendance rate among undocumented immigrants who graduate from Wisconsin high schools, the benefit to the UW system would be measured in millions of dollars.

Without such a provision, many of these children of undocumented immigrants face a glass ceiling of sorts, without any real possibility of college despite sufficiently meeting the qualifications to advance their education. As a society, we can’t continue to complain about undocumented immigrants and a perceived relative lack of contribution to our economy from those individuals, if we also refuse to give them the tools to build future careers. Effectively locking undocumented immigrants out of our state-run universities is not a formula for repairing the problems related to immigration in Wisconsin.

American entertainer Will Rogers once said, "America is a land of opportunity and don’t ever forget it." It appears that some Wisconsin residents have not only forgotten this fact, but have even twisted the saying to apply only to those who are currently American citizens, thereby defeating the original purpose of the expression. Enabling the children of undocumented immigrants to attend college in Wisconsin stands consistently with the principles upon which America was founded.

Doyle’s provision would not grant free tuition to the children of undocumented immigrants. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, it would not cost state taxpayers any money. It would not give undocumented immigrants admission preference over legal residents of the state of Wisconsin, nor would it admit students who would not otherwise qualify for admission. To the contrary, this provision would merely treat these students in the same manner as any of their classmates from their high school graduating class, neither favoring nor disfavoring those students, academically or financially.

Because it levels the playing field for the children of undocumented immigrants, the state Legislature should preserve Doyle’s provision regarding in-state tuition for these students.