--- title: HB 888. Education; in-state tuition for postsecondary education for certain noncitizen students; provide collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb888 cite_as: HB 888, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb888 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb888.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb888/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71916 date: 2025-04-04 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb887.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb889.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb888.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 888 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-03-31 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Kasey Carpenter text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB888/2025 upstream_id: 2017603 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - in-state tuition - immigration and education - college affordability - technical colleges - noncitizen students --- # HB 888. Education; in-state tuition for postsecondary education for certain noncitizen students; provide ## Text 25 LC 61 0262 House Bill 888 By: Representative Carpenter of the 4th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to education, so as to1 provide for in-state tuition for postsecondary education for ce rtain noncitizen students; to2 provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:4 SECTION 1.5 Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to education, is amended in6 Code Section 20-3-66, relating to determination of in-state resident status of students in the7 University System of Georgia for tuition or fees, by revising subsection (e) as follows:8 "(e)(1) Noncitizen students shall not be classified as in-state for tuition purposes unless9 the student is legally in this state and there is evidence to warrant consideration of in-state10 classification as determined by the board of regents.:11 (A) Obtained a high school diploma or state approved high school equivalency (HSE)12 diploma in this state;13 (B) Is legally authorized to work in this state;14 H. B. 888 - 1 - 25 LC 61 0262 (C) Has independently established and maintained domicile in t his state since15 January 1, 2020, or is the dependent child of a parent who has established and16 maintained domicile in this state since January 1, 2020;17 (D) Has not been convicted of a felony or a high and aggravated misdemeanor; and18 (E) Is enrolled in or applying for admission to an institution of the University System19 of Georgia which, for the two most recent academic years, admitted all academically20 qualified applicants.21 (2) Lawful permanent residents, refugees, asylees, or other eligi ble noncitizens as22 defined by federal Title IV regulations may be extended the sam e consideration as23 citizens of the United States in determining whether they quali fy for in-state24 classification.25 (3) International students who reside in the United States under nonimmigrant status26 conditioned at least in part upon intent not to abandon a forei gn domicile shall not be27 eligible for in-state classification."28 SECTION 2.29 Said title is further amended in Code Section 20-4-21, relating to tuition fees in the Technical30 College System of Georgia, by adding a new subsection to read as follows:31 "(e) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, the State B oard of the Technical32 College System of Georgia shall classify a noncitizen student a s in-state for tuition33 purposes if the student:34 (1) Obtained a high school diploma or state approved high scho ol equivalency (HSE)35 diploma in this state;36 (2) Is legally authorized to work in this state;37 (3) Has independently established and maintained domicile in this state since January 1,38 2020, or is the dependent child of a parent who has established and maintained domicile39 in this state since January 1, 2020;40 H. B. 888 - 2 - 25 LC 61 0262 (4) Has not been convicted of a felony or a high and aggravated misdemeanor; and41 (5) Is enrolled in or applying for admission to a unit of the Technical College System of42 Georgia which, for the two most recent academic years, admitted all academically43 qualified applicants."44 SECTION 3.45 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.46 H. B. 888 - 3 - ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. HB888 would let certain noncitizen students who grew up in Georgia qualify for in-state college tuition at University System of Georgia and Technical College System of Georgia schools if they meet residency, work authorization, and school-admission conditions. ### Plain-language summary Currently, Georgia law generally blocks noncitizen students from being classified as in-state for tuition purposes at University System of Georgia schools unless the Board of Regents finds specific evidence to support it. This bill rewrites that standard for the University System and adds a brand-new, similar rule for the Technical College System of Georgia, which previously had no such provision. Under the bill, a noncitizen student could get in-state tuition if they earned a high school diploma or GED-equivalent in Georgia, are legally authorized to work in the state, have lived in Georgia (or had a parent who has) since January 1, 2020, have no felony or serious misdemeanor conviction, and are applying to a school that admitted all academically qualified applicants for the past two years. Lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees may already be treated like U.S. citizens for this purpose, while certain international students on temporary visas remain ineligible. ### What it does - Rewrites Georgia's in-state tuition eligibility rule for noncitizen students at University System of Georgia schools (O.C.G.A. § 20-3-66), replacing board discretion with a specific five-part checklist. - Adds a brand-new subsection to the Technical College System of Georgia tuition law (O.C.G.A. § 20-4-21) creating the same five-condition path to in-state tuition, which did not previously exist there. - Requires applicants to show they earned a Georgia high school diploma or state-approved GED equivalent and are legally authorized to work in the state. - Sets a residency test requiring the student (or their parent, if the student is a dependent) to have lived in Georgia continuously since January 1, 2020. - Bars anyone convicted of a felony or a 'high and aggravated misdemeanor' (a serious misdemeanor charge under Georgia law) from qualifying. - Limits eligibility to students applying to schools that accepted all academically qualified applicants for the past two years, and keeps certain temporary-visa international students ineligible. ### Who it affects Noncitizen students seeking college or technical school in Georgia, their families, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia, which would administer the new eligibility rules for tuition classification. ### Why it matters For noncitizen students who grew up in Georgia, qualifying as in-state instead of out-of-state or international can mean paying thousands of dollars less per year in tuition. The bill would extend that possibility to technical college students for the first time and set clearer, more specific criteria for university students. ### Key provisions - Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 20-3-66(e) to replace the current discretionary Board of Regents standard with a defined five-factor test for noncitizen in-state tuition eligibility. - Section 1 also keeps existing language allowing lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees to be treated like citizens, and excluding certain nonimmigrant visa holders. - Section 2 adds a new subsection (e) to O.C.G.A. § 20-4-21 applying an identical five-factor eligibility test to Technical College System of Georgia tuition classification. - Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard clause clearing away inconsistent prior statutes. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2025-03-31) - Last action: House Second Readers (2025-04-04) - Sponsors: Kasey Carpenter - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/71916 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb888.md?full=1