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Put American Students First Act
To prevent any alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence from obtaining in-State tuition rates at public institutions of higher education, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill strengthens existing federal law prohibiting states from offering in-state tuition rates to aliens who are not lawfully admitted for permanent residence. It requires public institutions of higher education to verify student immigration status annually through the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE program and charge such students out-of-state tuition rates. Institutions that have provided in-state tuition to ineligible students must seek reimbursement of the difference plus interest, and may prevent future enrollment if reimbursement is not received within 90 days. States that violate these requirements become ineligible for certain federal education grants, and public institutions must comply with these requirements to participate in federal student loan programs. The bill becomes effective for academic years beginning on or after July 1, 2026.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Cotton, Tom [R-AR] (R-AR)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Tom Cotton’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $80,461
- APOLLO MANAGEMENT $25,600
- APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT $19,800
- BRODIE GENERATIONAL CAPITAL PARTNERS $13,200
- APOLLO $11,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Tom Cotton → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Dec 16, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. · senate
- Dec 16, 2025 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 16, 2025
Mr. Cotton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
A BILL
To prevent any alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence from obtaining in-State tuition rates at public institutions of higher education, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Put American Students First Act”.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1623) already prohibits States from granting in-State rates for tuition and fees to aliens who are not lawfully present in the United States on the basis of residence within the State, unless the same rates are offered to all citizens of the United States regardless of residence.
(2) Despite this prohibition, as of 2025, 22 States and the District of Columbia continue to provide in-State rates for tuition and fees to such aliens through policies that circumvent Federal law, subsidizing their postsecondary education at a cost to taxpayers of the United States estimated at more than $1,000,000,000 annually.
(3) Providing such subsidies creates a perverse incentive for illegal immigration, rewarding unlawful presence with benefits unavailable to citizens and legal residents of the United States who do not live within such State, and undermines the rule of law.
(4) Students of the United States in higher education, including students from modest-income families in neighboring States, are effectively penalized by States that provide such subsidies because the students pay higher out-of-State rates for tuition and fees while aliens not lawfully admitted for permanent residence receive taxpayer-subsidized discounts.
(5) Enforcing this Federal prohibition nationwide is essential to restoring fairness, deterring illegal immigration, and prioritizing postsecondary education benefits for citizens and lawful permanent residents of the United States.
SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON IN-STATE TUITION RATES FOR ALIENS NOT LAWFULLY ADMITTED FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE.
(a) In General.—Section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1623) is amended to read as follows:
“SEC. 505. INELIGIBILITY FOR IN-STATE TUITION AND FEES FOR ALIENS NOT LAWFULLY ADMITTED FOR PERMANENT RESIDENCE.
“(a) Definitions.—In this section:
“(1) In-state tuition rate.—The term ‘in-State tuition rate’ means the rate of tuition and fees for attendance at a public institution of higher education of a State or political subdivision of a State that is charged for a resident of the State.
“(2) Lawfully admitted for permanent residence.—The term ‘lawfully admitted for permanent residence’ has the meaning given such term in section 101(a)(20) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(20)).
“(3) Out-of-state tuition rate.—The term ‘out-of-State tuition rate’ mans the rate of tuition and fees for attendance at a public institution of higher education of a State or political subdivision of a State that is charged for a non- resident of the State.
“(4) Postsecondary education benefit.—The term ‘postsecondary education benefit’ means any tuition reduction, fee waiver, scholarship, grant, or other financial assistance provided by a State or political subdivision of a State for attendance at a public institution of higher education, including an in-State resident tuition rate.
“(5) State.—The term ‘State’ means the several States of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands of the United States, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
“(b) Ineligibility.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law—
“(1) an alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence shall not be eligible for any postsecondary education benefit, including an in-State tuition rate, offered by a State or political subdivision of a State; and
“(2) a State shall ensure that each public institution of higher education of the State or a political subdivision of a State charges an alien who is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence the out-of-State tuition rate.
“(c) Verification of Immigration Status.—
“(1) In general.—Beginning on the date of enactment of the Put American Students First Act, each public institution of higher education shall verify the immigration status of each student enrolled in the institution through the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program operated by the Department of Homeland Security, or a successor program, prior to granting any postsecondary education benefit to the student.
“(2) Frequency.—The verification required under paragraph
(1) shall be conducted annually for each enrolled student receiving a postsecondary education benefit.
“(3) Reimbursement.—Any public institution of higher education that has provided an in-State tuition rate or fee to an alien in violation of this section—
“(A) shall seek reimbursement from such alien for the difference between the in-State tuition rate and the out-of-State tuition rate for each term of enrollment, plus interest at the rate applicable to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan under section 455(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1085(b)) for such term of enrollment; and
“(B) if reimbursement as described in subparagraph
(A) is not made within 90 days of the request, shall not allow the alien to enroll for any future terms in the institution until the reimbursement is completed.
“(d) Applicability.—This section applies to—
“(1) any alien who enrolls in a public institution of higher education on or after the date of enactment of the Put American Students First Act; and
“(2) any alien—
“(A) who is a student enrolled in the public institution of higher education who enrolled before such date of enactment; and
“(B) whom the institution, after completing the verification required under subsection (c) for an academic year after such date of enactment, determines is not lawfully admitted for permanent residence.”.
(b) Additional Enforcement Requirements.—
(1) Violations by states.—Section 400 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(c) Disqualification of States That Provide In-State Tuition to Illegal Aliens.—Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, a State that the Secretary has determined has violated the requirements of section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U.S.C. 1623) for a fiscal year shall be ineligible for any grant under chapter 2 of subpart 2, subpart 4, or subpart 6 for the fiscal year immediately following such determination.”.
(2) Institutional requirement for participation in the federal student loan program.—Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(30) In the case of a public institution, the institution will comply with the requirements of section 505 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.”.
(c) Effective Date.—Except as otherwise specified, the amendments made by this section shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act and shall apply to academic years beginning on or after July 1, 2026.
SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this Act or the amendments made by this Act, or the application of such provision to any person or circumstance, is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act and the amendments made by this Act, and the application of the provisions of such to any person or circumstance, shall not be affected thereby. <all>
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