But Doty said the repeal's negative message couldn't come at a worse time, with the state facing dipping university enrollments in the next 10 years unless it can tap into the growing minority population that historically has lower levels of college attendance.

"We want to keep sending the message of hope and opportunity, not of despair and discouragement, which I think a repeal of this bill may send," Doty said.

Requiring undocumented students to pay out-of-state tuition — nearly three times as much as in-state rates — could make those minority groups feel like Utah "is just not a place where the doors are open," he said.

Michael Young, president of the University of Utah, called a repeal of the in-state tuition allowance a "genuine tragedy" for the state that would send a clear message to all minority students that the "state doesn't want us in college."

In addition, Young added, the students don't cost the state any extra money because university funding is not based on enrollment growth. Instead, the state will lose money by missing an opportunity to educate a growing population of undocumented students, he said.

"The Legislature isn't going to persuade these kids to go back to Mexico. They're here. The question is, are they going to be college educated or not?" he said. "There are severe consequences of not sending them to college and not giving them the hope of going to college."

A double standard

There are students who think the law allowing undocumented students to pay in-state tuition is unfair. Cory Seegmiller, president of the Freedom Society at Salt Lake Community College, calls it "a slap in the face to all the people who have done it the right way."

Alex Bowles, 21, pays out-of-state tuition after transferring to the U. from the University of Akron in Ohio.

"There are so many people who have to go through all the red tape in the system," he said. He is going through the process of eventually establishing residency, such as getting a Utah driver's license. While his tuition here is about the same as it was in Ohio, he says he pays his own way through a retail job and student loans. He's also vice president of a fledgling chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

"There's lots of people that even come ... for school visas and everything to get here," he said. "People who have just come undocumented into the state, and just because they establish residency can get in-state tuition, it seems like there's a process being done around."

Roughly 60 undocument- ed students attend the U., with the highest number of students — about 103 as of fall 2006 — attending Salt Lake Community College.