Poll: 63% Democrats, 20% Republicans Support In-State College Tuition Rates for Illegal Aliens

A new poll at school reform journal Education Next finds Democrats and Republicans are polarized over whether illegal aliens should be eligible to receive in-state college tuition rates in the United States.

Participants were asked if they “support or oppose allowing undocumented immigrants to be eligible for the in-state college tuition rate if they graduated from high school” in their state.

Among Democrats, 63 percent support in-state tuition for illegal aliens, while 25 percent oppose it. Just 20 percent of Republicans, however, favor in-state tuition for illegal aliens, while 71 percent oppose it.

Results of the Education Next poll also find the general public’s support or opposition to the concept of in-state tuition for people in the country illegally is evenly split at 44 percent.

In terms of which language should be used to teach non-English-speaking students, 62 percent of poll respondents said non-English-speaking children should be placed in English-only classrooms, while 38 percent said English learners should be taught in their native language.

Among Republicans, 74 percent favor English-only classrooms, while 54 percent of Democrats support them.

The poll also showed Democrats are divided on the issue of school choice along racial and ethnic lines, with black and Hispanic Democrats more supportive of charter schools and school vouchers than whites in the Party.

The poll sought responses from a sample of 3,046 adults, including oversamples of teachers (667), blacks  (597), and Hispanics (648).