A federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s challenge to Minnesota’s in-state tuition eligibility for certain undocumented students, marking the first ruling against the Trump administration’s push to end such eligibility. U.S. District Judge Katherine Menendez ruled that a federal statute banning “any postsecondary education benefit unless a citizen or national” pre-empts state law only under the statute’s terms, and concluded it does not pre-empt Minnesota’s tuition policy. Minnesota’s eligibility criteria hinge on graduation from a state high school, living in neighboring states, or attending a Minnesota boarding school—factors that, in the court’s view, are not exclusively Minnesota residency requirements. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison hailed the decision as a defeat of efforts to reinterpret federal law to force Minnesota to abandon its state policy. The ruling affects higher education affordability planning statewide, including how institutions advise prospective students and structure aid and enrollment targets under shifting federal guidance.