NASHVILLE -- An estimated 150 undocumented students from Tennessee rallied on Legislative Plaza on Wednesday in support of legislation that would grant state high school graduates in-state tuition rates at public colleges regardless of their immigration status.
As an organizers shouted "tuition equality," the group responded "Now!" They later went into Legislative Plaza to talk with lawmakers. legislators.
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, and Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis. As amended, it would allow any Tennessee high school graduate with at least four years in Tennessee, at least a 21 on their ACT and 3.0 GPA to attend a public college or university at in-state tuition rates.
The students, even if they live in Tennessee, now must pay out-of-state tuition, three times higher than American-born in-state students do. Most at the rally wore placards stating their career ambitions.
Among them was 21-year-old Chattanoogan Samira Gutierrez, an East Ridge High School graduate, who was eight months old when she arrived in the U.S. Gutierrez said she is studying biology at Chattanooga State. She's taking two courses a semester at a cost of almost $4,000.
"I really can't afford to keep doing this much longer," said Gutierrez, who wants to become a researcher. "A lot of immigrant students have a difficult time."