Japan & Korea

Illegal immigrants can qualify to pay cheaper in-state tuition rates at California public universities, the state's Supreme Court ruled Monday.The California Supreme Court's unanimous decision reversed a ruling by the state Court of Appeals and allowed the state's higher education institutions to continue their policy of allowing certain unlawful immigrants to pay in-state rates. The lower court had ruled that such immigrants, even if they lived and studied in California, should be treated as "nonresidents" when it came to how much they paid to go to these schools.The Supreme Court decision addressed federal laws, which appeared to restrict some education-related benefits for illegal immigrants, and state laws, which appeared to authorize such people to receive in-state rates if they qualified.A California state law, which took effect in January 2002, said those "without lawful immigration status" -- if they qualify on other grounds -- can get in-state tuition rates if they have "filed an application to legalize his or her immigration status."