Jennifer Gonzalez is a teacher’s dream. The 17-year-old East Boston junior has spent her school days doing what she’s supposed to do: she’s gotten straight A’s, excelled on standardized tests, and landed in the top 10 percent of her high-school class. But despite her diligence, college remains a distant dream.

Gonzalez (not her real name) is a Salvadoran immigrant who has lived with her family in East Boston for two years now. Barred by legal technicalities from applying for a green card, Gonzalez, as a non-permanent resident, is not eligible for in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities across Massachusetts. And the high out-of-state tuition — which averages $16,000 a year for a four-year school, as compared to the $4000 in-state fee — effectively prohibits her from pursuing a college degree. So while most of her classmates at East Boston High busily prepare college applications, she has little to look forward to. "I’m being realistic," she says. "After I graduate, I’ll probably have to work in a dead-end job."

Gonzalez is one of 400 immigrant students a year in Massachusetts — some with legal status, some not — who would benefit from a new bill filed on Beacon Hill. The legislation, known as Senate bill 237, would allow any student who’s lived in the state for three years and who’s graduated from high school to access in-state tuition at public colleges and universities, regardless of immigration status. State Senator Jarrett Barrios, the bill’s sponsor, sees the issue as one of basic fairness.

"It’s not fair that immigrants who are taxpayers [in Massachusetts] have to pay twice as much to send their kids to institutions of higher education," Barrios says. "Many of these kids have spent virtually their entire lives here. But they’re treated as if they’re coming from Maine, and forced to pay out-of-state tuition. It’s not right."

Evidently, the situation is not novel either. Legislation similar to Senate bill 237 has been passed in a growing number of states across the country, including California, New York, Texas, and Utah. Meanwhile, at the federal level, Republican Utah senator Orrin Hatch is pushing a measure that would allow immigrant students who’ve lived in the US for five years and who have "good moral character" to apply for a green card, thereby giving them access not only to in-state tuition rates, but also to financial aid, grants, and scholarships.

Unlike the federal measure, the pending Massachusetts bill wouldn’t solve all problems for immigrant students, since it doesn’t set up a path to citizenship. Still, it would suffice for low-income students like Gonzalez. Her dream of college seems more attainable at a third of the price. "If the money is less, the dream looks closer to me," she says. "It’s more real."

To that end, Gonzalez and about 15 of her East Boston peers — many of whom emigrated from Guatemala, Brazil, Cape Verde, and Haiti — have joined the Task Force on Immigrant Access to Higher Education, a lobbying campaign made up of 40 local immigrant, labor, and religious groups. They’ve organized teen forums at high schools in and around the city. They’ve lobbied local politicians. This Saturday, they’ll even host a rally at City Hall Plaza to raise public awareness about the bill.

For Gonzalez, the experience amounts to an education in itself. But not the one that she ultimately envisions. "I definitely want to be someone who’s successful, and I can’t without college," she says. "That’s my reality."

The Task Force on Immigrant Access to Higher Education will hold a rally on Saturday, May 10, at 11 a.m. at Government Center, in Boston. For more information, contact the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition at (617) 350-5480, or log on to www.miracoaliton.org.