<p>Hi all. I recently went home and visited my high school after my freshman year at Georgetown. I spoke to one of friends there who is a rising senior and beginning to concern himself with college admissions. He has a 1900 SAT and 4.2 weighted GPA. When combined with the fact that he is an URM, I feel as though this is sufficient to make him competitive most places, especially considering the fact that his SAT is likely to improve.</p>
<p>However, he is an undocumented student, and our high school primarily feeds to CSUs and UCs, which because of his citizen status will likely not be best for him. The guidance counselor has not been much help and thus he asked me. I now ask you: in all of your experiences, what private schools offer the most financial aid to undocumented students? I am looking primarily at those at pay for full need, but I was hoping that some of you might know more specifically. For instance, I know Georgetown is fairly decent about this, because another undocumented student from my high school will be a freshman here in the fall. </p>
<p>Any assistance anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Undocumented students are not eligible for government grants and loans. There may also be college specific money that requires proof of citizenship. There are some colleges that will meet 100% of need to international students, which is what an undocumented student is. Use search engines to find “schools providing 100% of need to international students” to get an initial list. But you need to talk to each school’s financial aid office after perusing the school websites because things are changing very quickly and current policies and practices may not yet be posted.</p>
<p>Also check if your state gives in state status for those who are undocumented. If it does, see if your situation does give you state tuition costs.</p>
<p>Some colleges treat undocumented students as a special pool of domestic students, and they have a limited number of full need-based scholarships available. Many colleges allow all students to compete for merit scholarships, so that’s another possibility.</p>
<p>He would pay in state rates in CA if he spent the last 3 years in high school there. Still not cheap, but better than nothing. As an international, which is how the private schools will see him, he needs better scores (hopefully his rank is high) to be of interest to the schools with the best aid. These schools can get lots of American URMs who are much cheaper for them.</p>
<p>As a side note, given the recent press on undocumented college students via the Balderas and Colotyl stories, I would urge him to be upfront with the schools regarding his residency status and suggest that he follow the rules by applying for a student visa before he starts college. Not only is he ineligible for federal aid, but he also can’t work without documents…some international students are provided non-WS employment through their schools but, afaik, they must have visas. Also, there is the risk of an undocumented college student having even a minor run-in with the law and being turned over to ICE and illegal immigration is currently a major issue in many states. Better to start playing by the rules if he wants to have a shot at becoming a citizen.</p>
<p>I believe in Calif (for the Cal States and the UCs), undocumented immigrants are not eligible for fed aid or for Cal grants. I don’t think there are any special scholarships for them.</p>
<p>If the student went to at least 3 years of high school in Calif, then they can pay instate rates in Calif.</p>
<p>So they can go to the local CC for cheap, and then commute to a local Cal State.</p>