Diplomats' son sues University of Michigan after being denied in-state tuition
A University of Michigan student whose parents work overseas for the U.S. Foreign Service and the U.S. Agency for International Development is suing the university, saying it charged his family the out-of-state rate even though the family's permanent home is in Ann Arbor.
A lawsuit on behalf of Alen Henry Bean was filed Sept. 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, alleging that Bean was denied in-state tuition because of an inconsistency in his family's address while his parents were working abroad. According to the lawsuit, Bean's father and mother are members of the Foreign Service and USAID, respectively, and declared permanent residency in Ann Arbor.
The lawsuit claims that despite Bean providing documentation, including driver's licenses, to prove his residency, his family was forced to pay out-of-state tuition of more than $50,000 per year.
The lawsuit claims Bean submitted an in-state tuition application in December 2024, but the university denied it "due to a lack of documentation." Bean provided all the documents the university requested in May 2025 before he was denied, the lawsuit claims.
Bean appealed in June 2025 and provided additional forms, including the closing papers on the family's home, but was denied again two months later after the university allegedly determined that his application "was based on circumstances that are temporary or indeterminate," according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that in September 2025, Bean contacted U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, whose office then contacted the university. The lawsuit claims Dingell informed Bean that the university concluded that his family's property tax and ownership records did not reflect Ann Arbor. According to the lawsuit, the address on the federal and state tax returns is a diplomatic post office that allowed Foreign Service personnel to send and receive mail when stationed abroad.
"The University of Michigan never provided this rationale as the basis for rejecting Plaintiff's application during the application or appeal process, and Plaintiff was therefore unable to refute the claim," read the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims the university failed to provide Bean with "a meaningful opportunity to be heard before an impartial and unbiased decisionmaker." It also claims the university had no rational basis for treating Bean differently from other students whose parents are federal employees temporarily assigned abroad while keeping Michigan as their permanent home, and that the different treatment was "intentional and without sufficient justification."
Bean's father is in Astana, Kazakhstan, and his mother was in Belgrade, Serbia, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit demands that the university classify Bean's tuition as in-state and refund the difference.
CBS News Detroit has reached out to the university for comment.
The gap between the two rates is wide. Regents in June approved a 3% increase in tuition and fees for resident undergraduates and a 4.9% increase for nonresident undergraduates and most graduate programs for the current school year, CBS Detroit previously reported.
The university is also facing a separate federal lawsuit filed in February by a student accused of using artificial intelligence to write papers, who alleges the university disciplined them without a fair process.
