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Florida residents who are U.S. citizens would qualify for in-state tuition, regardless of their parents immigration status, under a bill filed Friday by a state lawmaker.

The bill comes two days after five students, represented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, sued the state claiming they were unfairly required to pay out-of-state tuition at Florida colleges and universities. They were all U.S. citizens and long-time Florida residents. Out-of-state tuition is more than three times that of in-state tuition.

But as currently written, the bill wouldn’t benefit the students in the lawsuit, only future students that enter college. Rep. Reggie Fullwood, D-Jacksonville, said some college officials expressed concern that it might be too expensive to make the bill retroactive. Fullwood said the bill will likely go through revisions, as he receives input.

The students in the lawsuit say they were charged out-of-state tuition because they couldn’t provide proper documentation for their parents. If a student is under 24 and still a dependent, Florida uses the residency and legal status of parents to determine whether students qualify for in-state residency.

“Many of these citizens come from struggling families and simply can’t afford the higher tuition,” Fullwood said. “My goal is simply to make college affordable for all United States citizens and Florida residents so they can get good jobs and improve Florida’s economy. This is truly an issue of fairness and equality that must be addressed.”

The students also have the support of Miami Dade College, where several of them attend or tried to attend.

“We are hopeful that the position of these students will prevail,” MDC spokesman Juan Mendieta said. “They are American citizens by birth who are not receiving the same treatment other Americans receive.”

Less enthusiastic was Kelly Layman, a spokesman for the State University System. She voiced concerns about how much a change like this might cost, especially if a lot of new students enrolled.

“That would have a significant impact, obviously, for the State University System and the 11 institutions in terms of our admissions process,” she said.

Layman said the state’s 2 + 2 program, in which students spend two years at a state college and transfer to a state university, “would have to increase capacity and it would be a massive cost to the state potentially in order to handle that kind of state mandate.”

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