Tution Saga Continued...

Today I received an email from SUU as a response to my on going query into their tuition for Illegal aliens. She completly missed my point. My point is this, I am a US citizen, and while I was attending SUU I was resident enough to pay their state employment tax. Here is a quote from her email:

"Part of the reason for the Governor's decision to waive part of undocumented immigrants tuition is that they consider Utah their home and have continuously for a number of years. Whether you or any one else agree with this decision, it is law and we all must abide by the law."

This stikes me as funny since the "undocumented immigrants" she speaks of are more appropriatly called illegal aliens. If we followed the law they wouldn't be here. I found the letter one big contradiction. Does this not anger anyone else? The state I live in is one that extends these "waivers" (as if calling it something different than it is makes it acceptable) and is trying to balance a $9 billion budget deficit, they plan to raise tuition in this state by as much as 22%... The logical step to me is to stop paying for criminal non-producers, their answer is to fire a couple teachers and to build a tunnel under Seattle. Politicians are idiots!

Here is the whole email:

Devin,

Trudy Smith forwarded your email to me because I work with residency for tuition purposes at SUU. First of all let me explain that undocumented immigrants are considered non-residents for tuition purposes for their entire attendance at SUU. The previous Governor provided waivers for some of these students who meet strict criteria: graduate from a Utah high school after attending for a minimum of three years; attend immediately after high school graduation; remain in the state for the duration of their attendance; and sign an affidavit that they will apply for citizenship or a visa as soon as possible. These students are living in the United States because they are minors who were brought to the US by their parents and have no say in where they live.

In trying to understand your position I have reviewed your time of attendance at SUU. I see that you attended SUU for two semesters - Fall Semester, 2000, and Spring Semester, 2001. There was then a five year gap and you returned for Spring Semester, 2006. You met with Luann Abbott in the Admissions Office on July 25, 2000, to ask about residency and were told that because you had moved to Utah two months prior you would not qualify for residency. At that time, as it is now, the requirement is twelve continuous months immediately preceding the term you would like to be considered a resident. When you returned in 2006, you were considered a non-resident for tuition purposes. This was because you indicated in your letter to the Academic Standards Committee that you had lived Las Vegas working for Sorensen Construction.

Since it does not appear that you lived in Utah for twelve continuous months other than possibly your first year, or that you continued to live in Utah, or considered Utah your home, the law would not consider you a resident for tuition purposes. All students must meet the minimum requirements for residency based on their circumstances. If you would care to read the law found at http://utahsbr.edu/policy/r512.htm, you will see that there are several areas in which a student may apply for resident classification.

Part of the reason for the Governor's decision to waive part of undocumented immigrants tuition is that they consider Utah their home and have continuously for a number of years. Whether you or any one else agree with this decision, it is law and we all must abide by the law.

If you are planning to return to SUU and have been living in Utah, it is possible that you may be considered a resident for tuition purposes at this time.

Hopefully this answers your questions. If not, let me know.



Christine Proctor
Associate Director
Admissions Office
Southern Utah University


Here is my response to her:

Christine,

I guess my point is this, I was resident enough to pay Utah state income tax, which may have been used to pay for these "waivers". What these people are called doesn't matter, I paid 2 or 3 times the tuition they did. I am a LEGAL U.S. citizen, you mentioned following the law, it seems a big contradiction to me to give these benefits to someone that is in this country illegally. They do not pay taxes, their parents do not pay taxes, and yet they get an education because they "consider Utah their home". The whole thing seems backwards to me, I will fight to get this law changed.


Here is her 2nd reply:

Devin,

Nobody's taxes paid for these waivers as they were not money. Please feel free to fight this as much as you like. The best contacts are the state legislators and Governor's Office. You may find their contact information online at www.utah.gov.


Christine Proctor
Associate Director
Admissions Office
Southern Utah University


Really? No one paid for it? Does anyone believe this?... Here is my reply:

Mrs. Proctor,
As I understand it, it costs the same amount to put a resident through school as a non resident, the difference is made up with subsidies. These subsidies are paid for by the state who gets their money from taxpayers. There is no free lunch, everything has a cost associated with it. Beyond that the fact that we are giving people incentives to come to the U.S. illegally is what concerns me. Thank you for your help on this.



Devin Sorensen


I am in awe at the ignorance of some people, how does this not enrage everyone, how is this okay.