Border students from Mexico get in-state tuition under new bill

Students who live in Mexico within 45 miles of the border would be eligible for in-state tuition at community colleges under a new bill now headed to the governor’s desk.

Assembly Bill 91 would apply to community colleges near the border — Cuyamaca College, Grossmont College, Imperial Valley College, MiraCosta College, Palomar College, San Diego City College, San Diego Mesa College, San Diego Miramar College, and Southwestern College. Each college could enroll the equivalent of up to 150 full-time students.

In order for the bill to go into effect, however, the governing board of the California Community Colleges would have to enter into a similar agreement with a university in the state of Baja California, to allow California residents to attend there with in-state tuition as well.