Tuition

Higher-education leaders in Maryland praised an effort unveiled by President Barack Obama on Friday to make college more affordable but expressed unease about still-emerging details that could have an impact on federal funding and student aid. Calling access to college essential for the nation's economy, the president used two speeches — including one in Maryland — to propose an expansion of student loan programs. He challenged state and university officials to hold the line on tuition or risk losing part of their federal funding.

Maryland's governor won't be on the ballot, and the state is highly unlikely to play much of a role in the presidential election. But 2012 is nonetheless shaping up to be a riveting year in Maryland politics. Here are four major stories to watch in the year to come. A bill to legalize gay marriage cleared the Maryland Senate relatively quickly in 2011, only to stall in the House of Delegates. Advocates will have some formidable advantages this time around. Building on the experience of lawmakers in New York, which legalized gay marriage a few months after the legislation failed here, advocates have developed a smart, coordinated campaign to win over a few more supporters.

The Washington group Judicial Watch filed papers Thursday to intervene in the lawsuit over legislation to extend in-state tuition discounts to illegal immigrants. The conservative group, which bills itself as a watchdog on immigration, can bring money and national attention to the battle in Maryland, where the controversial measure was suspended after opponents successfully petitioned for a statewide referendum. "There is no question that the Maryland DREAM Act should be put to a referendum," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.

Sam Cameron says high school classmates used to give her "funny looks" when she told them she planned to go to a local community college after graduation instead of some prestigious four-year institution. But the 19-year-old, now in her second year at Montgomery College, says she chose the Rockville school because it offered a strong honors program with small classes — and a full scholarship. "It's a very good school," says Cameron, who lives at home with her parents in Ashton.

A Montgomery County judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by a conservative foundation demanding that a Montgomery County community college end its practice of offering in-county tuition rates to illegal immigrants. A spokeswoman for Montgomery College, which has campuses in Rockville, Takoma Park and Germantown, told The Baltimore Sun last year that the school's policy is to offer the reduced tuition rate to anyone who can demonstrate that he or she lives in Montgomery County or graduated from a public high school there within the past three years.

Regarding your report about Casa de Maryland and the ACLU's effort to block a referendum on in-state tuition for noncitizens ("Vote on tuition bill faces lawsuit," Aug. 2): I have been watching the letters to the editors expecting to see someone point out the irony in the efforts of these groups, who are contesting the petition signatures on narrow legal grounds. Yet they are the same people that insist anyone can come into a polling place and vote, even if they are not registered and present no identification.

Regarding the recent article about the lawsuit over the Maryland Dream Act ("Vote on tuition bill faces lawsuit," Aug. 2), I believe democracy should be upheld. I was one of hundreds in attendance when the law was heavily debated in the State House. Over the last year, Maryland Industrial Areas Foundation has committed itself to true grassroots organizing and building a diverse base of African-American, Caribbean Americans, Latinos, and others who support the law. Our organizing culminated when we turned out a multitude of diverse supporters to witness the passage of the tuition bill in April.

Regarding your recent article on the split over the proposal to offer in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants ("Maryland becomes a state divided," July 31), does not the word, "illegal," mean unlawful, non-legal, or against the law? If so, why then are there sharply split attitudes? Dave Miceli, Joppa

The immigrant advocacy group Casa de Maryland asked a court Monday to toss out the referendum aimed at overturning the new law that extends in-state tuition breaks at Maryland's public colleges and universities to illegal immigrants. The widely expected filing is now the highest remaining hurdle confronting opponents of the breaks, who capitalized on popular support and previously untested technology to gather nearly twice the number of signatures they needed to get the passion-stirring law on the 2012 ballot.

The State Board of Elections notified petitioners Friday that they have succeeded in their effort to have Maryland voters weigh in on a new law enabling illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. But advocates of the tuition bill have until Aug. 1 to file a lawsuit challenging the referendum. Elections officials have been counting and validated signatures over the past few weeks. In all, the board accepted 108,923 signatures, nearly double the approximately 55,000 needed to secure the referendum a spot on the November 2012 ballot.