A federal lawsuit filed Thursday, Aug. 27, targets in-state tuition rates and state financial aid used by undocumented students at Everett Community College and WSU Everett.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil complaint in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle. The suit asks a judge to strike down state laws that let undocumented immigrants pay resident tuition and receive state grants. The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, which governs Everett CC, and Washington State University's governing board, which oversees WSU Everett, are both named defendants.

The Lynnwood Times reported that the suit also names the state of Washington, the University of Washington, Evergreen State College, Central, Eastern and Western Washington universities, and the Washington Student Achievement Council.

At community colleges, the gap between resident and nonresident tuition is roughly $136 per credit versus $350 per credit. At WSU, undergraduates pay $6,349 in resident tuition compared with $15,185 for nonresidents for the 2026-27 school year.

What the DOJ argues

The complaint targets a 2003 state law, RCW 28B.15.012(2)(e), that grants residency to anyone who earned a Washington high school diploma, lived in the state at least one year for non-college purposes, and signed an affidavit pledging to seek lawful permanent residence when eligible. That same residency definition governs eligibility for the Washington College Grant (WCG), the state's main need-based aid program.

The DOJ cited 8 U.S.C. § 1623(a), a 1996 federal statute that bars states from offering postsecondary benefits to undocumented immigrants unless out-of-state U.S. citizens get the same benefit. The complaint calls Washington's policy "blatant unequal treatment" and invokes the Constitution's Supremacy Clause.

"This is a simple matter of federal law: colleges cannot provide benefits to illegal aliens that they do not provide to U.S. citizens," Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said in a statement.

State response

A spokesperson for the Washington State Attorney General's Office told KING 5 the office looks forward to defending what it called "longstanding Washington laws" against what it described as a politically motivated lawsuit.

How many students are affected

The Washington Student Achievement Council reported 8,410 applications through the Washington Application for State Financial Aid (WASFA) in 2023-24. Of those, 3,067 students received a Washington College Grant, about 3% of total grant recipients statewide. Based on the program-wide average award of roughly $4,800, the Lynnwood Times estimated those grants totaled about $15 million. The state does not publish a dollar total by immigration status. Applications rose to 9,360 in 2024-25, though award totals have not been released.

The lawsuit also challenges the Undocumented Student Support Loan Program, created in 2020 by then-Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds). That program is effectively inactive after lawmakers cut $792,000 from it in 2025. No new loans were being issued as of Aug. 27.

What's next

The DOJ asks the court to permanently bar enforcement of the tuition, grant and loan statutes. Washington is one of four states sued Thursday; the others are Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon. The filings bring to 21 the total number of states the DOJ has sued over similar policies.

No court hearing date has been announced.