Georgia’s selective public universities will bar undocumented aliens from admission under a policy adopted by the state’s board of regents today.

The ban applies to all public colleges and universities that do not admit all academically qualified applicants in a given year, and will take effect next fall. Currently five state institutions — the University of Georgia, Georgia State, Georgia College & State University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Medical College of Georgia — meet the regents’ definition.

The regents’ decision makes Georgia the third state to bar undocumented students from some or all public higher education institution. South Carolina bans undocumented immigrants from all public colleges, and Alabama bars them from two-year colleges.

Currently only 27 students attend the five colleges that are affected by the ban, while another 474 attend the state’s thirty non-selective institutions.

All undocumented students in Georgia are required to pay non-resident tuition rates, regardless of how long they have lived in the state. The regents today also passed new regulations designed to ensure that universities are aware of the residency status of students they enroll.