What is the effect of college in-state tuition policies on the human capital investment of undocumented students?

This paper studies human capital responses to college in-state tuition policies for undocumented students. Using a sample of young, Hispanic immigrants from the 2000-2018 American Community Survey and 1997-2018 Current Population Survey, I exploit state and time variation in the adoption of these policies to estimate the causal effect of these policies on college enrollment for the affected students.

I find in-state tuition policies significantly increased college attendance rates, particularly among young, Mexican immigrants four to five years after policy implementation. I also confirm my findings using 1998-2018 IPEDS data on college enrollment.