The Senate Committee on Education passed Sen. Chris Romer's Tuition Equity Bill on to the Senate as a whole by a vote of 5-3 on Thursday afternoon.

The decision came after about four hours of testimony and debate during which 18 people from both sides of the issue spoke about the bill. 

The bill passed with two major amendments. The first removed the Colorado Opportunity Fund from the application of the bill, meaning that undocumented students will not be eligible for state financial aid. The second will require undocumented students attending college for in state tuition fees to also apply for U.S. citizenship. These amendments both remove the fiscal note from the bill and make it more bipartisan. 

"This is not an immigration issue," said Senate President Peter Groff, co sponsor of the bill. "This is about education." 

"This bill gives hope to these kids who have done nothing wrong to keep fighting hard," Romer said in a press conference Tuesday afternoon. 

The bill will be most likely be heard by the Senate as a whole next week.