Florida education officials are moving toward policies that would require undocumented students to provide documentation of citizenship or lawful presence to enroll in the state’s public colleges and universities. A vote is scheduled Tuesday on a Florida Board of Education proposal affecting the system’s 28 public colleges. In parallel, the Florida Board of Governors overseeing the 12 public universities advanced an amendment that would block people “present in the United States unlawfully” from initially enrolling at institutions that had not admitted “all academically qualified applicants” in the previous two years. Advocacy groups and experts warn the changes could sharply reduce enrollment and impose long-term economic harm, particularly in Florida where thousands of undocumented students graduate high school each year. University and state officials did not respond to requests for comment. If adopted, the policy would make Florida one of the few states to exclude undocumented students from public higher education, intensifying compliance and institutional risk planning for registrars, financial aid offices, and student support services.
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