The University of Missouri-Columbia will now block students from registering for classes if they have not given the university proof that they are U.S. citizens, permanent residents, or are otherwise lawfully present in the U.S.

The new policy follows the passage of H.B. 1549, an immigration-related state bill that recently became a law. Among other things, the law prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving local or state “public benefits” such as post-secondary education. It also requires people who apply for public benefits to show proof of their citizenship or lawful presence in the U.S.

University of Missouri Registrar Brenda Selman said most students won’t have to do anything because they already have enough information in their system to verify their citizenship or legal status through a student’s W-2 form, FAFSA application, Mizzou ID card, or visa. But those students who do not fall into one of those categories — students, for example, who have not applied for financial aid or don’t work on campus — will now be notified via email that they need to give the university appropriate documentation.

The University of Missouri, like most of the state’s public universities, has repeatedly told legislators over the years that they do not knowingly admit undocumented students. Still, there has been no law on the books that prohibits them from doing so. In fact, several other states such as Illinois have gone the other direction in offering undocumented students who meet certain criteria in-state tuition rates. (I outlined in a story I wrote earlier this year about how St. Louis Community College does allow undocumented students to enroll at the international student rate.)

A similar provision was proposed in the Missouri General Assembly last session. But both chambers could not reconcile competing bills — one bill would have penalized schools for admitting undocumented students and the other would have allowed them to attend public universities under certain conditions. So the only law that appears to be on the books about this issue is H.B. 1549 that requires verification of legal status or citizenship in order to receive the local or state benefit.

When I talked to Selman on the phone about this matter, I asked her if the law leaves open the door for a public university to enroll undocumented students at an out-of-state or international rate since that would not be seen as a local or state benefit. Her response was that even if that was the case, Mizzou was choosing to apply this law more broadly and to continue to prohibit undocumented students from attending the school at all.

“Out understanding of the spirit of the law is that we are not to allow any illegal aliens to participate in coursework on our campuses,” she said.

The Grade is the St. Louis region’s premier blog on education and child welfare. To read other recent posts, go to www.stltoday.com/thegrade.