On June 25, 2025, the Department of Justice sued Governor Tim Walz, the State of Minnesota, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and the Minnesota Office of Higher Education over the state’s policy allowing in-state tuition benefits for undocumented students. Under the Minnesota Dream Act, signed into law in 2013, undocumented students who grew up in the state can pay in-state tuition rates if they meet various criteria, including spending three years at and graduating from a Minnesota high school. The Department of Justice claims Minnesota is violating federal law and discriminating against U.S. citizens who reside outside the state by providing benefits to undocumented students while denying them to out-of-state U.S. citizens. The suit also takes issue with the state’s North Star Promise Program, a free college program launched last year for Minnesotans who meet certain requirements, including undocumented students who live in the state. 

On March 27, 2026, a federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit over Minnesota’s college tuition policy for students without legal immigration status.  

Today, we defeated another one of Donald Trump’s efforts to misconstrue federal law to force Minnesota to abandon duly passed state laws and become a colder, less caring state. The Minnesota Legislature decided that it’s a necessary investment for our state to do everything we can to encourage a more educated workforce, and that kids who have grown up here and succeeded in attending and graduating from Minnesota high schools should be eligible for in-state tuition at our public colleges and universities. Since then, young people have seized on this opportunity to get a college education and pursue the American dream in our state, and that’s a beautiful thing for them, for our workforce needs, and for the long-term health of all Minnesotans. I am proud my Office successfully defended this law, and I will continue working to ensure every Minnesotan can live with dignity, safety, and respect.Attorney General Keith Ellison