Texas Dream Act fight could reshape college costs for undocumented students

Undocumented students in Harris County could soon face college bills roughly three times higher if the Texas Dream Act remains blocked, a change that would hit families already trying to balance rent, work and school in Houston, West Houston and north Harris County. The tuition gap is especially consequential at Houston-area campuses such as the University of Houston and Lone Star College, which said last year they were still assessing the ruling’s impact.

The fight returned to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 4, when students, immigrant-rights advocates and the Austin Community College District asked judges to let them defend the law after it was shut down last year. The group includes Students for Affordable Tuition, La Unión del Pueblo Entero and student Oscar Silva. Their argument is straightforward: if the state will not defend the Dream Act, the people and institutions that rely on it should be allowed to do so themselves.

Texas enacted the Dream Act in 2001, when then-Gov. Rick Perry signed the first law of its kind in the nation. It let certain students who lived in Texas for at least three years, graduated from a Texas high school or earned a GED, and signed an affidavit promising to apply for permanent residency when eligible, pay in-state tuition at public colleges. By 2025, 23 other states had adopted similar laws, according to the Higher Ed Immigration Portal.

The policy ended quickly after the U.S. Department of Justice sued Texas in June 2025 and Attorney General Ken Paxton agreed to a consent judgment. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor approved it, and the law was blocked within hours. Texas and federal officials now argue the case should not be reopened, saying the state policy conflicts with federal immigration law.

The stakes are large. Every Texan estimated the Dream Act affected more than 20,000 students in 2021, and the President’s Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration said about 57,000 students without legal status were enrolled in Texas colleges in 2022. For those students, losing in-state tuition can mean a bill that is about three times higher, a jump that can push college out of reach or force a longer path to a degree.

What happens next will shape fall enrollment decisions. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has already told schools to adjust tuition for undocumented students starting this fall, even as it gave little additional guidance. If the appeals court opens the door to a new defense of the law, the tuition fight could be revived; if it does not, Houston-area colleges and Harris County families will keep adjusting to the higher price tag.