<p>I have offered to help the daughter of recent immigrants navigate the college application process. (The parents speak minimal English.)</p>
<p>Just to set their expectations upfront - what do colleges typically expect families with an EFC of $0 to spend annually on a college education?</p>
<p>Most colleges can not afford to meet the documented need even of U.S. citizens and state residents. </p>
<p>The very few colleges that promise to do this are top colleges in the country, places like Harvard. To my knowledge, the only public universities that make this promise are U VA and UNC, which also are very hard to gain entrance to.</p>
<p>To immigrants who lack green cards, colleges aren’t likely to give any money even in cases of severe financial need.</p>
<p>More than likely, your friend’s daughter will have to start college by living at home and commuting to a community college while working and taking out loans to cover those full costs.</p>
<p>Northstarmom:</p>
<p>Sorry, but where does the OP say anything about the applicant or her parents “lacking a green card?” </p>
<p>The OP does not even say that the applicant is not a US citizen, just that her parents are immigrants.</p>
<p>All of our families (unless you are NA, in which case excuse me) were immigrants once, please remember that.</p>
<p>^If they’re “recent immigrants”, it’s kind of logical to assume that they don’t yet have green cards. Even after obtaining green card, it still takes about five years in order for the person to apply for citizenship…</p>
<p>They have been in the country for three years.</p>
<p>How likely is it that they were able to enter the country and establish residency with no green card?</p>
<p>I will find out more when I meet with them.</p>
<p>I had an EFC of $0 (though I’m not an immigrant.) It depended heavily on the school. </p>
<p>I applied to some OOS public schools, some in-state public schools, and a few private schools. The OOS public schools offered me nothing but loans. The public in-state schools offered FA with about $6000 to $7000 in loans and the rest was made up of various grants. And the private schools varied a lot–for one I would’ve had to take out $23k in loans per year, for another $12k in loans.</p>
<p>At the private schools and the OOS public schools, there was a “gap” of $9000 in their aid offers–meaning there was a difference of $9000 between their COA and the FA they offered (including the loans they offered.) I would’ve had to take out more loans (private loans, I guess) to cover that. (I factored that into the loan amounts in the paragraph above–for example, $3000 in loans in their FA offer + a $9000 gap = $12000 in loans total.)</p>
<p>The in-state public schools did NOT have a gap, their FA offer accounted for their entire COA.</p>
<p>Is your friends’ daughter going to become (or is she already) a US citizen? If so, my advice would be to wait however long it takes to gain residency in her state (usually one or two years), then apply to state schools. She can also start off at community college for the first two years. If she will have some other legal status, I don’t have any experience in that regard, sorry!</p>
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<p>Very likely.</p>
<p>Naturally, thanks so much for posting. Your information is very helpful.</p>
<p>The student in question will be a high school junior in the fall. Her parents are not highly educated and they depend on her to help them run their business. I sense that she has the kind of life experience that will make her an attractive candidate to certain colleges - the trick will be to identify the colleges.</p>
<p>It’s really, really nice of you to be helping them :).</p>
<p>Pardon me if my assumption is incorrect, but if she IS first-generation college, she should look for schools that have scholarships and programs for students who are first-generation and/or low income. Where I work, we have a great program that is run through our TRIO office … students in the program get a fully-funded summer session right after high school graduation (including books) to get them off on the right foot … then two years of tuition/room/board/fees covered (in excess of EFC, but fully funded if the EFC is 0). If the student is doing well in school, there are usually other scholarships that will be offered when the 2-year funding is done. Other state schools have similar programs. </p>
<p>Our state flagship guarantees to meet need with no loans for 0 EFC students … no strings attached. There are great programs out there. It takes some sleuthing, but they can be found.</p>
<p>As always - in addition to grant and loans don’t forget that if she is a good student and looks at colleges that her grades and SAT scores are above the 75% level of attending students she will likely receive merit aid (except at the best schools, but as mentioned already the very best schools will likely cover the 0 EFC anyhow). </p>
<p>So if she is a good student but not a great student she may do well by looking at a 2nd or 3rd tier school that may give her merit aid in addition to need aid.</p>
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<p>This was also the case at my state’s flagship (I wonder if we’re in the same state?), although they didn’t guarantee to cover the whole COA, just the whole tuition. But all the same, the flagship DID cover most of the non-tuition parts of the COA with grants in my case and in the end it was the cheapest option–even cheaper than the other in-state schools I applied to!</p>
<p>At this point you need to find out her immigration status. You also need to find out how she is doing in high school. Grades and level of classes. She also needs to get set up with the testing - PSAt is usually in October and SAT’s in the Spring. If she’s a top student in level 1 or AP classes, there may be opportunities out there for her, if not she’s probably going to the local cc. You also need to make sure that her EFC is really 0. It might seem obvious but it isn’t always the case. Her parents may be willing to do a calculator like fafsa4caster with you. Before moving forward you need to get the details and the financial and academic facts straight. Unfortunately, these days even a good student with a low EFC has very few choices.</p>
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<p>I think you should explore this area more. It would be useful to determine the level of dependence; I would assume she is more than likely translating for them but she could also be running a balance sheet. It would help no one if her departure turns out to be detrimental; perhaps the family would be better off if she attended a school in the local area and/or took vocational courses. It is also likely that she will return home to take greater control of the business and assist her parents so a more practical course of study is beneficial. </p>
<p>Whatever the case, it is imperative to know how they would handle this before she starts her journey.</p>
<p>soze: i understand your intent, but actually, “all of our families” were NOT “immigrants once”. sorry. in the case of african americans (descendants of enslaved africans brought to this country against their will), that description doesn’t fit.</p>
<p>Thanks everywhere for your replies!</p>
<p>kelsmom, is the TRIO program to which you refer something specific to your company?</p>
<p>It is just this kind of thing that I am hoping to learn about so that I can direct this student to these types of programs.</p>
<p>We are in Massachusetts.</p>
<p>I think I understand what Northstar was referring to. There may be different aid issues depending on the legal status of the applicant and his/her family if they do not have green card status. This is particularly relevant for loans. (If they have their own business, they may not be in the country with H1b Visas either.) </p>
<p>The applicant will need to document that the student is able to attend the school, and may need to assist the student obtain a student visa. To get a student visa, someone is going to have to sign a certification regarding the student’s support. </p>
<p>In other words, this is a complex situation. The applicant may find more help from schools with large international student populations, who will be more knowledgeable about the visa and loan process. I’d suggest a meeting with the financial aid office of one of those schools asap.</p>
<p>Definitely need to know their legal status before any kind of assumptions can be made about costs/aid. There is also the issue of whether or not she will be eligible to pay instate rates if they do not have resident status - only 10 states currently have laws allowing this, and fewer that offer state aid to such students, though there are many schools that either don’t check status or don’t enforce it. You might find this page helpful if you run into that situation…</p>
<p>[FinAid</a> | Other Types of Aid | Scholarships for Undocumented Students](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Resources for Undocumented Students - Finaid)</p>
<p>Also, TRIO programs such as the one kelsmom described are federally funded and administered by the schools. They target low-income, first gen, and URM students for aid and services and usually have a separate application.</p>
<p>sk8rmom, thanks for the link.</p>
<p>It is certainly the case that the first step will be to find out their legal status, and to advise them from there.</p>
<p>Fendrock, is it possible for you to share the state? Someone might know what programs are available to students with a $0 EFC.</p>
<p>Agreed, their resident status needs to be clarified. </p>
<p>I think it’s wonderful that you are helping them out!!</p>