The decision by Miami District Judge K. Michael Moore overturns a state Department of Education policy to charge higher, non-resident tuition when the citizenship of the parents can't be determined.
Maria Rodriguez welcomes the ruling. She's the executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
"The unfair thing is that U.S. citizen children were being charged out of state tuition because of the status of their parents, so their peers would be able to pay a third of what they were charged to go to state schools", said Rodriguez.
The case was filed last year by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The judge ruled the tuition policy violated the students' right to equal protection of the law.
A state Department of Education spokeswoman said the ruling is under review and there would be no further comment.