The Justice Department sued Penn State on Thursday, arguing that the university breaks federal law by letting some undocumented students pay in-state tuition.
The federal complaint, announced Nov. 5, 2026, challenges a policy set by the university itself. Penn State had not publicly responded as of Thursday afternoon.
What the Justice Department says
According to the Justice Department, federal law bars public colleges from giving tuition breaks to people who are in the country unlawfully unless every U.S. citizen can get the same break. The department says Penn State’s policy denies that lower rate to U.S. citizens who don’t qualify.
“This university has ignored that mandate,” said Brett A. Shumate, who leads the department’s Civil Division.
Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. said the department wants to ensure that “no state law or university policy gives preferential treatment to illegal aliens over our Nation’s own citizens.”
The department also shared the news on X at 1:53 p.m. ET.
What the lawsuit asks for
The complaint asks a federal court for an injunction. An injunction is a court order that requires someone to stop, or start, doing something. The department wants the court to:
- Block Penn State from enforcing its in-state tuition policy for undocumented students.
- Bar the university from adopting new tuition policies that favor undocumented students over U.S. citizens.
What Penn State’s policy says
Penn State’s admissions website says undocumented students, with or without DACA, can qualify for in-state tuition if they meet its residency rules. DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, is a 2012 federal policy that offers temporary protection from deportation to some people brought to the U.S. as children.
To qualify, the site says, a student must:
- Attend an accredited Pennsylvania high school for at least four years.
- Graduate from an accredited Pennsylvania high school or earn a Pennsylvania GED certificate.
The same page notes that undocumented students and DACA recipients cannot receive federal student aid.
Part of a wider push
The Justice Department says this is its 27th lawsuit over in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants. It says six cases, in Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas, ended with orders permanently blocking similar laws. One of those orders came from the Fifth Circuit, a federal appeals court.
Most earlier suits targeted state laws. A tracker run by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration lists cases against 24 states and Washington, D.C., as of September 2026. It keeps a separate section for suits against individual schools.
The tracker also reports that a federal judge in Minnesota dismissed the department’s challenge there in March 2026. The government has appealed.
Supporters see it differently. The Presidents’ Alliance says the lawsuits threaten long-standing laws that “promote affordability, access, and economic mobility for immigrant students.”
What happens next
Penn State can respond to the complaint in court. A judge will decide whether the policy is lawful.
Sources: U.S. Department of Justice press release · @TheJusticeDept on X · Penn State Undergraduate Admissions: Information for Undocumented Students · Presidents’ Alliance in-state tuition litigation tracker
