The Jefferson College Board of Trustees recently voted to amend the school’s admissions procedure for foreign students to follow the Trump administration’s new interpretation of a 1996 legislative act.
Board members voted 5-0 Oct. 9 to approve the amended procedure. Board member Krystal Hargis was absent from the meeting.
The change in the admissions procedure involved adding the following paragraph: “In accordance with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, undocumented students are not eligible to enroll in any programs that are supported by federal funds.”
Kim Harvey-Manus, the college’s vice president of student services, said the policy change went into effect immediately.
“A new interpretation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) was released by President Trump’s administration on July 10, 2025,” she said. “This new
interpretation expands the scope of which federal programs and services are considered public benefits and now includes Career and Technical Education programs.
“As a result, undocumented students are not eligible to participate in any programs that are supported by federal funds.”
She said the Carl D. Perkins and Adult Basic Education program funding are examples of Career and Technical Education programs affected by the new interpretation of the Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act.
She said the college needed to spell out how it handles the new interpretation.
“We just need to have a process in place in case there are undocumented students applying for enrollment in a federal program,” Harvey-Manus said. “We are establishing our own internal process to make sure we are adhering to the requirements.”
She said the college receives substantial federal funding each year.
“The college could potentially lose federal funding for noncompliance,” she said. “The college is currently budgeted to receive $10,471,536 in federal funding for fiscal year 2026.”
The amended procedure should not affect many, if any, students, she said.
“For college-level programs, this change may affect one student per academic year,” Harvey-Manus said. “While the College receives an average of 85 college-level applications for admission from noncitizens each year, 99 percent of those individuals are permanent residents or international students with F-1 visas and are not affected by this change.”
She said those applying to attend classes at Jefferson College are asked about their citizenship status on admission forms.
“The college application for admission asks each individual if he or she is a U.S. citizen,” she said. “If an applicant indicates that he or she is not a U.S. citizen, the applicant is requested to complete a U.S. Citizenship /Eligible Non-Citizen Documentation Affidavit to certify his or her citizenship status. If an applicant is undocumented, our admissions policy allows him or her to enroll in programs that are not supported by federal funds. Per Missouri state law, undocumented students are charged out-of-state tuition.”