- Florida’s Department of Education proposes banning undocumented immigrants from enrolling in the state’s 28 public colleges.
- College trustees must verify citizenship using clear and convincing documentation before granting student admission.
- The proposed rule excludes public universities like UF and FIU, focusing only on the Florida College System.
(FLORIDA) — The Florida Department of Education has proposed a rule that would bar immigrants in U.S. unlawfully from enrolling in the state’s 28 public colleges and require trustees to verify that every admitted student is a U.S. citizen or lawfully present.
The Proposal would require documentation that is “clear and convincing” and “credible, precise, and compelling,” language that would place the burden on each college’s board of trustees to confirm a student’s status before admission.
A public hearing on the rule is scheduled for May 14 at Miami Dade College. The Department of Education has not commented on the proposal.
The rule applies only to the 28 institutions in the Florida College System, including Miami Dade College and Broward College. It does not cover the state’s 12 public universities, including the University of Florida and Florida International University.
Trustees also would gain discretion to deny admission based on an applicant’s past misconduct if the institution decides that denial is in the school’s best interest. The proposed rule pairs that discretion with a stricter screening standard on citizenship and lawful presence.
Florida colleges sit at the center of the measure. The rule stops short of the broader reach sought in some legislative efforts, which have aimed to extend the same kind of ban to universities and state-funded adult education.
The proposal follows earlier immigration-related changes in the state. Florida repealed in-state tuition for about 6,500 immigrant students brought illegally as children, and a law enacted in February 2025 ended in-state tuition for undocumented students.
That sequence marks a sharp shift in state policy. Current policy allows undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition at Florida public colleges and universities, but the proposed rule would move from pricing restrictions to an admissions bar at public colleges.
State Sen. Erin Grall, a Republican from Vero Beach, filed SB 1052 on January 6, 2026. The bill sought to ban undocumented students from public colleges and universities and from state-funded adult education programs such as GED and ESL classes.
The bill lacks a House companion, and its status is unclear. A previous effort by Grall to bar non-citizens from all public higher education did not receive a committee hearing.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has expressed support for the same kind of restriction. “I don’t think you should be admitted to college in Florida if you’re here illegally,” DeSantis said.
If the rule takes effect, Florida would join Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina in banning or restricting undocumented students at public colleges. Those states already place limits on access to public higher education for students without lawful immigration status.
Federal law does not require taxpayer-funded colleges to enroll undocumented students. That leaves room for states to set their own policies on admissions, and Florida’s proposed rule would do so through administrative action rather than waiting for a broader law to pass.
The narrow scope matters inside the state’s public higher education system. Students seeking admission to a Florida College System campus would face the proposed documentation rule, while applicants to one of the 12 public universities would not be covered by this measure.
Miami Dade College, where the hearing is set for May 14, is one of the campuses directly affected. Broward College also falls under the rule, while Florida International University and the University of Florida do not because they are universities rather than colleges in the state system covered by the proposal.
The documentation standard in the draft is unusually exacting. Trustees would have to verify lawful presence using records the rule describes as “clear and convincing” and “credible, precise, and compelling,” language that points to a formal review process before a student could enroll.
The proposal arrives after a period of repeated state action on access to education for immigrants in U.S. unlawfully. Ending in-state tuition in February 2025 raised the cost of attendance for undocumented students; this rule would address whether they can attend some public institutions at all.
Adult education remained part of the broader legislative push but not this draft. SB 1052 reached further by including GED and ESL programs, while the Department of Education’s proposal focuses on the state’s public colleges.
No public comment from the department accompanied the filing. Attention now shifts to the May 14 hearing at Miami Dade College, where the proposal will receive its first public test.
