The Justice Department has taken Maryland to court, filing a lawsuit Thursday that targets state rules letting undocumented residents pay in-state tuition and tap into certain state scholarships and financial aid. Federal attorneys are asking a judge to block statutory and regulatory language that requires public colleges and community colleges to treat noncitizen residents the same as in-state students, estimating that undocumented students received roughly $9 million in tuition savings in one recent academic year. The suit names the State of Maryland, the Maryland Higher Education Commission, and the University System of Maryland Board of Regents as defendants.
What the DOJ is arguing
According to the Department of Justice, Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward framed the case as a straightforward conflict with federal law. "By granting illegal aliens in-state tuition, Maryland is not only violating federal law but subsidizing education for illegal aliens," Woodward said. The department notes this is the 13th lawsuit in a series of challenges to residency-based in-state tuition programs for people not lawfully present in the U.S., and it is asking a federal court to stop Maryland from enforcing the contested statute and regulation while the case plays out.
What the complaint says
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, asks the court to declare Md. Code Ann., Educ. § 15-106.8 and a Maryland Higher Education Commission regulation unconstitutional and to bar their enforcement. As outlined in a filing from the Department of Justice, the suit alleges that Maryland policy allows undocumented students to qualify for in-state rates and related state aid, and that between Summer 2024 and Spring 2025, those students saved nearly $9 million in tuition at Maryland community colleges and public four-year institutions. The filing again lists the State of Maryland, MHEC, and the University System of Maryland Board of Regents as defendants and seeks both declaratory and injunctive relief.
Maryland pushes back
State officials, citing the ongoing litigation, say they are limited in what they can discuss publicly but are defending the policy as squarely within Maryland's authority and part of a broader public-safety approach. Rhyan Lake, a spokesman for Gov. Wes Moore, told WYPR the administration "will work with the federal government when that coordination makes our people safer." House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk has argued that the law simply clarifies how Maryland uses state resources, according to CBS Baltimore, while immigrant-rights advocates warn the lawsuit could derail carefully laid college plans for affected students.
The legal backdrop
The Justice Department is grounding its challenge in federal limits on state power to confer residency-based college benefits. Under 8 U.S.C. § 1623, states may not provide postsecondary education benefits based on residence to people not lawfully present in the country unless U.S. citizens from other states are eligible for the same benefit. The statute is available on the U.S. Code. Courts have already wrestled with similar programs: a recent Fifth Circuit decision blocked a Texas initiative, and other federal and district courts have issued mixed rulings in related cases, precedents the DOJ cites in its Maryland filing, as reflected on Justia.
What comes next
The legal fight is now in federal court, where the United States is seeking injunctive relief that could temporarily stop Maryland from enforcing its in-state tuition rules while the case moves forward. The lawsuit zeroes in on changes to residency rules that the legislature preserved in HB1530, which took effect July 1, 2026; the chapter text is posted by the Maryland General Assembly. For now, the colleges named in the suit and state officials are watching the docket, knowing that a court order could force schools to adjust tuition classifications or scholarship practices while any appeals unfold.
