Migrant in-state tuition bill advances

NASHVILLE — A bill that would let immigrant students who are in the country illegally pay in-state college tuition advanced in the Tennessee Legislature on Wednesday.

The Tuition Opportunity Bill passed by a 7-to-2 vote in the Senate Education Committee.

Dozens of students who are living in the country illegally were at the committee meeting. The Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition has been pushing lawmakers for several years to pass the measure, but it has failed to get enough support to pass into law.

“We applaud the members of the committee who voted to expand access to in-state tuition to undocumented graduates,” Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, policy director of TIRRC, said in a statement. She said she hoped it would make it through more committees so students could pay in-state tuition this fall.