Topeka ? Gov. Kathleen Sebelius supports a House-passed bill to allow illegal immigrants to attend the state’s colleges and universities for less expensive, in-state tuition rates.

“I think that bill makes a lot of sense,” Sebelius told a group of Hispanic students from across the state who met Tuesday to support the legislation. “We need to open the doors of our colleges and universities to all our high school graduates.”

But Chairman Dwayne Umbarger said there might not be enough time left in the session for his Senate Education Committee to address issues legislators still have with the bill.

The committee planned to hear testimony on the bill today.

“I’m not in a position to commit that we’re going to work this bill and not send it to a committee for interim study,” Umbarger, R-Thayer, said.

The bill requires a student to have attended three years of high school in Kansas and to have received a diploma or general educational development certificate in Kansas.

“I just think we need all the talent that we should get from this growing part of our economy,” Sebelius said of the state’s immigrant Hispanic population.

Opposition to the bill has been muted thus far. The only group to speak out against it has been the Washington, D.C.-based Federation for American Immigration Reform, which is known for its opposition to immigration. It plans to testify today.

In a memo faxed to Umbarger, the group contended the Kansas legislation is unconstitutional and poorly timed.

“The nation has not yet recovered from the Sept. 11 attacks carried out by people who were living illegally in the United States under the guise of being students, yet the Kansas Legislature seems prepared to offer lavish subsidies to an unrestricted number of illegal aliens,” a representative wrote.

Umbarger disagreed but did say the committee should consider amending the bill to require undocumented students or their parents to provide proof that they have applied for citizenship before immigrant students are granted in-state tuition.