The Florida Board of Governors may bar undocumented students from state universities.
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The Florida Board of Governors this week took a step toward barring undocumented students from admission to the state system’s 12 public universities.
A proposed rule, discussed Thursday by the board’s academic affairs committee, would block these students from enrolling, unless institutions already admitted “all academically qualified applicants,” starting in the 2027–28 academic year. The committee adopted a version of the proposal, but the rule still needs approval from the full Board of Governors.
The rule would be a blow to thousands of noncitizen students in the state. An estimated 8,000 undocumented students graduate from high school in Florida annually, and over 49,000 undocumented students are enrolled in Florida colleges, according to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal.
