Gov. Tim Walz signed law giving some Minnesota students, including migrants, free in-state tuition

Republican critics of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris, have focused on his immigration policies.

"Not only did Governor Tim Walz sign legislation giving free college and free health care to illegal immigrants, but he sat on the sidelines and watched Minneapolis burn for four days straight," U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote Aug. 6 on X.

We are examining Walz’s record on health care for people in the country illegally and his response to riots after George Floyd’s May 2020 death in separate fact-checks. Here, we wanted to check whether Walz offered "free college … to illegal immigrants.

The Republican National Committee’s X account, conservative pundit Charlie Kirk and former National Intelligence Acting Director Richard Grenell made similar claims about tuition.

The short story: Walz signed a scholarship program into law that covers tuition at Minnesota public colleges and universities for students who meet family income restrictions. Students in the country illegally qualify for the aid under certain conditions.

In May 2023, Walz signed the North Star Promise Scholarship into law.

The program, part of a larger higher education bill, awards tuition scholarships to eligible students whose families earn less than $80,000. Scholarship amounts will vary; the state would pay what isn’t covered by a student’s grants, financial aid and scholarships.

Students eligible for the Minnesota Dream Act can apply for the scholarship. That 2013 law, which came during Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton’s administration, makes students who attended a Minnesota high school for at least three years and graduated or received a GED certificate in Minnesota eligible for certain benefits, even if they are in the country illegally. Benefits include access to in-state tuition, state financial aid and private aid to attend Minnesota public colleges and universities.

The Walz-backed scholarship program begins in the 2024-25 school year, "so as of now, no Minnesotan has received funding through the program yet," said Keith Hovis, communications director for Minnesota’s Office of Higher Education.

To keep the scholarship, students must satisfy their college or university’s GPA standards.

In the 2021-22 school year, 314 Minnesotan students received financial aid through the Minnesota Dream Act. However, not everyone who is eligible for financial aid qualifies for the scholarship program, Hovis said.

In May, the Minnesota Legislature renewed the scholarship program. The original bill earmarked $117 million for the program. The second bill transferred $5 million of that money to a different college tuition grant program for certain students who went through foster care. Eligible students who are in the U.S. illegally also qualify for that grant.  

A Republican senator introduced an amendment to restrict the scholarship program to only  students legally residing in Minnesota. But the amendment failed in a 34-33 party-line vote with Democrats in the majority.

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The Migration Policy Institute, a think tank, estimates that 81,000 people in the U.S. illegally live in Minnesota. The Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, a left-leaning think tank, reported that immigrants in Minnesota illegally contributed around $222 million in state tax revenue in 2022. 

Graham said Walz signed "legislation giving free college … to illegal immigrants."

Graham’s statement is onto something, but is a touch too broad. 

Walz signed two higher education bills in 2023 and 2024 that covered tuition costs at Minnesota’s public colleges and universities for students whose families earn less than $80,000 annually.

Students who are illegally in the U.S. can apply for this tuition aid if they have attended a Minnesota school for at least three years, graduated or received a GED certificate in Minnesota and satisfied other requirements for income and maintaining their school’s GPA standards.

We rate Graham’s statement Mostly True.

RELATED: Yes, Tim Walz signed a law letting immigrants illegally in Minnesota get driver’s licenses