So, our institutions of higher learning are NOT being overrun by illegal immigrants, after all.

That's one conclusion we might draw from having our universities enforce the provision of Proposition 300 that denies in-state tuition to kids who can't prove their citizenship.

We have a problem with illegal immigration, for sure. A report by the state's Joint Legislative Budget Committee.shows that there are 4,000 students without U.S. birth certificates enrolled in state schools, paying in-state tuition. Of those, most were in community college.

As Anne Ryman's story on the subject said:

"The report shows 1,720 Maricopa students were ineligible for in-state tuition out of its nearly 111,500 in-state students. Of the 1,720, 145 were denied financial aid. Arizona State University reported 207 students ineligible for in-state tuition, while University of Arizona reported 119 and Northern Arizona University reported 20."

In addition to addressing the issue of in-state tuition for children who aren't citizens, the numbers here also show that maybe it would be OK to ratchet down the hysteria over illegal immigration just a bit.

Even in our community colleges, the most affected institutions, the number of such students is about 1 percent.

That strikes me as better news that most of us would have expected. And maybe, just maybe, reason NOT to react with hysterical panic every time the illegal immigration problem comes up.