End of Texas Dream Act means higher tuition for some UNT students
Tuition breaks end for Texas 'Dream Act' UNT students
An important deadline is today for 'Dream Act' students at the University of North Texas. They either have to verify their legal status or pay more tuition.
DENTON, Texas - It’s an important date for Texas Dream Act students at the University of North Texas. People in the program have until the end of the day on Friday to verify their legal status or pay a higher tuition rate.
Texas Dream Act Ends
The backstory:
For the past few decades, the Texas Dream Act has allowed undocumented college students to pay in-state tuition if they’ve been living in Texas.
But in June of this year, the United States Justice Department under President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit to have the program shut down.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sided with the DOJ.
DOJ settlement ends Texas in-state tuition for undocumented students
A legal settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Texas will end in-state college tuition for undocumented students, a program that has been in place for nearly 25 years.
Local perspective:
At UNT, students whose legal status is unconfirmed had until Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, to send in a written response to administrators, along with supporting documents to prove their residency status.
Those who fail to do so by the end of the day will lose access to in-state tuition, which is significantly cheaper than out-of-state tuition.
The policy change affects some students who have lived in Texas their whole lives.
What they're saying:
UNT officials said in a statement that students were notified of the deadline ahead of time. They were also given help to try to verify their legal status and information about tuition rates for the fall semester.
What we don't know:
It’s not clear how many students at UNT are affected.
According to the Associated Press, the state of Texas has about 73,000 students at its public universities who previously qualified for the in-state tuition break.
The Source: FOX 4's Dan Godwin gathered details for this story from UNT and past news coverage.