Undocumented Students
What are the financial aid options for students who are undocumented students? As you will see below, private scholarships and loans are about the only form of financial aid undocumented students can receive in Indiana. But don’t just stop there, check with the financial aid office of the college you are interested in. They might offer school-specific assistance. It never hurts to ask, right?
Federal Government
In order to qualify for federal financial aid, a student must be one of the following: United States citizen, permanent resident or eligible non-citizen.
Tip: Is the student a US citizen, but one or more parents are undocumented? If so, then the student can qualify for federal aid. When filling out the FAFSA, for the parent(s) who do not have a valid social security number (SSN), enter 000-00-0000 in the space so the government does not reject a false SSN. If you submit the FAFSA with a false or someone else’s SSN, the FAFSA will be rejected.
State Assistance
Indiana's House Bill 1402, enacted May 2011, stipulates that students who are undocumented are not eligible for in-state tuition. Because of this, students who are undocumented are also not eligible for state grant assistance.
Private Assistance
Undocumented students are able to apply for scholarships from private sources. However, those scholarships cannot be, even partially, funded by federal dollars—they have to be entirely private funds. Here are a few private scholarship sources for undocumented students: