Community colleges finalize admission plan for illegal immigrants

The board in September initially approved the policy to allow illegal immigrants to enroll if they graduated from a U.S. high school and paid out-of-state rates of about $7,000 a year. Under the policy, lawful U.S. residents would have priority to crowded classrooms.

The policy still must go through the state Rules Review Commission, and if the commission receives at least 10 objections to it, the issue would be referred to state lawmakers.

The General Assembly could pass a law to block the policy from taking effect, but if lawmakers take no action on it, the policy would go into effect.