I enjoyed reading Colin McLafferty's article on illegal aliens receiving in-state tuition. Sometimes you just have to conclude that the "California Republic" is just plain weird. As an active duty military member, one of the perks is that most states will offer in-state tuition to their public institutions. This comes in handy when the Navy sends officers to grad school as they're getting bang for the buck. Not with the University of California, though. They clearly state that if you are stationed in California for educational purposes, you are not eligible for in-state tuition.

Clearly California figures if the U.S. government is paying for a service member to go to grad school, then they'll charge out-of-state tuition. The kicker is that the Navy won't send anyone to a UC school on orders unless he or she is a California resident, so basically, no one wins in this situation. To recap, after deploying overseas to a combat zone, I can't get orders to UC-Berkeley or UCLA because I'll be charged out-of-state tuition that the Navy won't pay (schools that do offer in-state tuition include, but are not limited to: The University of Texas and Purdue University...the list goes on), but someone who crosses the border illegally is eligible for in-state tuition. Makes sense.