The Weekly Standard‘s Jonathan Last has an article up making a limited defense of the in-state tuition rate for illegal immigrants policy that Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed into law. Last writes:
The underlying economic assumptions behind the in-state tuition scheme for illegals are the following: (1) College coursework adds value in the labor market; (2) illegals can be lured into college coursework by financial discounts; and (3) since the marginal benefit to the school of in-state versus out-of-state tuition is relatively small, the state will reap benefits by having better-educated illegal immigrants—because these people will earn more and inevitably pay more in the consumption taxes that drive the Texas tax base.
Last then goes on to review some contradictory studies looking at the law’s impact on illegal immigrant educational attainment. But let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that the law is highly effective at creating more highly educated illegal immigrants. Where are these illegal immigrants going to work?
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