House Bill 18 causes worries for Cedar students
The Georgia House Legislature introduced House Bill 18 on Jan. 15, a bill that aimed to restrict dual enrollment eligibility to certain students based on their immigration status. This bill, if it was passed by the House Higher Education Committee, would have taken effect on July 1, 2025, blocking some students from being allowed to participate in dual enrollment if they’re not U.S. citizens or legal residents. However, HB18 did not cross over in the legislative process. In other words, it means the bill failed to pass out of the chamber where it was introduced before the crossover deadline, and therefore cannot be considered by the opposite chamber.
“If it had been passed, it would have taken a lot of opportunities away from people who don’t have citizenship status. I find education is important and essential. I know many people who don’t have citizenship. They strive to get dual enrollment and get scholarships and pursue and work hard in school,” sophomore Alison Ortiz Gonzalez said.
HB 18 outlined several provisions for dual enrollment including dual credit courses, eligibility for payment and residency requirement for eligible students. Sponsors included Republican representatives Steven Sainz, Jesse Petrea, Gary Richardson, Rick Jasperase, and Joseph Gullet.
“The state of Georgia provides the best basic education, that means kindergarten to 12th grade. However, we need to follow in the footsteps of our federal counterparts on President Trump, who has made it clear that when you come to our country, when you violate our nation’s laws, there’s no path to success for you; it is inhumane, it’s not right to provide any domestic policies out of that line,” Sainz said in a video.
HB18 will be difficult to sign into law due to the passage of Plyler v. Doe (1982), a landmark decision where the Supreme Court of the United States decided that a state cannot deny public education to children of undocumented immigrants without a compelling reason.
Non-profit organizations such as Asian Americans Advancing Justice and U-Lead Athens urged students and educators to write letters to their representatives showcasing their experiences and how HB 18 will impact them.
“We must demand that every Georgian, no matter their status, can access the promise of higher learning,” Anar Parikh said in a video. “Let’s stand together to protect our students’ future.”
This effort was not the first time Georgia attempted to make changes to dual enrollment. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed HB 444 in 2020, a bill that limits the number of credit hours the state will fund per student to 30, also limiting offerings to core academic courses and restricting the program to high school juniors and seniors with limited expectations for sophomores. Georgia’s Dual Enrollment Program has allowed high school students in either public or private schools to have the opportunity to earn high school and college credit at an eligible postsecondary institution in Georgia since 2015. The program covers tuition, fees, or books; students are only responsible for transportation or any course-related expenses.
