HB7 still would repeal a 2002 law that grants resident college tuition rates to undocumented students who graduate from Utah high schools, but any students enrolled in college classes as of January 2006 would continue to pay the lower rate, Donnelson said Monday. Last year, 169 students qualified for the break, state numbers show.

"Those in the program ought to have the opportunity to finish their education, although legally they can't work here," Donnelson said. "It's the right thing to do."

He hopes the change will ensure the bill's passage, but higher education administrators will continue to oppose HB7 even with the amendment.

"It's beneficial that [students] be allowed to finish the education they have started," said higher education spokeswoman Amanda Covington. "But we also want to consider the other students who are complying with the [2002 law] and are finishing their high school education in Utah."

And a spokesman for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. did not rule out a possible veto if HB7 succeeds.

"Things may change and we would take a new look at current law," spokesman Mike Mower said, adding "the governor is pleased with the [2002] law as it is written."

Michael Clara, spokesman for the Utah Hispanic/Latino Legislative Task Force, called Donnelson's amendment "short-sighted." It's not about allowing in-state tuition for 169 students. It's about the contributions young people make to society when given an opportunity to obtain a college education, he said.

"All the amendment does is grease the wheels to a bad policy that [Donnelson] is trying to implement," Clara said.

Clara and other HB7 opponents say if the current law is repealed, undocumented students probably will not be able to go to college.

But Alex Segura of Utah Minutemen Project, a group that opposes illegal immigration, dismisses that concern as a "scare tactic." There is nothing in the bill to prevent undocumented students from attending college, he said. "They just no longer will be subsidized by Utah taxpayers."

sykes@sltrib.com

HB7 Status

Received a 9-5 favorable vote in the House Education Committee; now awaiting a hearing before the full House.