Overview
- Minnesota can keep in-state tuition and scholarships in place after U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit on Friday.
- Menendez said federal law only blocks benefits granted on the basis of residence, and Minnesota’s rule turns on three years of Minnesota high school attendance.
- The judge concluded the Justice Department misread the statute and did not prove the programs discriminate against U.S. citizens.
- She also ruled the federal government lacked standing to sue Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison because they cannot change the state’s tuition-eligibility laws.
- The decision arrives as the department presses similar cases in Texas and Kentucky, where outcomes differ when laws tie benefits to residency, and as at least 22 states plus Washington, D.C., offer in-state rates with 14 also providing financial aid.