Sign HB5093 and Open In-State Tuition to More Illinois Students

Please sign HB5093. This bill removes an outdated residency condition that currently blocks some students from qualifying for in-state tuition at Illinois public universities and community colleges, and it deserves your signature now that the legislature has passed it. The rule on the books today forces students to prove things about where they lived or went to school before they ever enrolled, and that test shuts out young people who have built their lives here. HB5093 fixes that. It changes the conditions under which public universities and community college boards must recognize a student as an Illinois resident, so more students can pay the in-state rate they have earned by living here. The price gap between in-state and out-of-state tuition is the difference between a degree a family can afford and a door that stays closed. Students who call Illinois home should not be priced out of Illinois schools over a technicality. This bill is written to take effect immediately, which means signing it helps students who are planning for the coming year right now. I am asking you to sign HB5093 and let more Illinois students afford the public colleges in their own state.