The Department of Education has arbitrarily excluded undocumented students from receiving financial aid through the CARES Act. Notably, an increasing number of schools across the country are taking action and providing emergency funds available to undocumented students.

At My Undocumented Life, we have compiled a list of schools providing Covid19 emergency financial assistance to undocumented students. We hope that this will help undocumented students attending these institutions to reach out for help, as well as encourage additional colleges to follow suit and support undocumented students with and without DACA who are excluded from federal assistance and are among the hardest hit by the current pandemic. 

Click on the official links below for more information.

Amherst College: “The College will be providing additional financial support to our students with the greatest needs over the next few weeks. These grants will be funded in large part by the CARES Act, Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF), with the College providing funds to those who are not federally eligible for CARES Act funds.”

Arkansas State University: “As a reminder to all students, regardless of CARES Act eligibility, A-State has a Student Emergency Fund. It is composed of private gifts to the university and is intended to help our students who are dealing with financial emergencies. All students are eligible to apply for these funds.”

Berea College: “Since F1 International students and DACA students are ineligible for federal funds, Berea College will, from its own funds, provide assistance to these students based on the same criteria outlined above.”

Colorado State University “In order to support these students,’ the CSU spokesperson said the university was ‘accessing state, institutional, and private funding sources.’ As part of that overall support, the university has provided varying levels of aid outside of CARES funds to about 400 such students, including 218 undocumented Coloradans who qualify for in-state tuition via the ASSET bill, which allows eligible undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition. As part of the effort, the CSU spokesperson said, each of the 218 undocumented students granted support were given $1,500 each.”

CSU/UC-systemwide: “University of California and Cal State say they will give emergency grants to DACA students, after education secretary excluded them from the stimulus bill.”

CSU Bakersfield: “Most of the money for the aid to students is made possible by the U.S. Department of Education, through the CARES Act. However, some student groups were omitted from the federal funding, so CSUB is relying on other emergency funding to ensure all spring 2020 students enrolled as of May 4 receive support.”

CSU Long Beach: “We are disappointed that federal guidelines prohibit us from providing aid from the CARES Act to our undocumented students who qualify for AB 540 status. However, we have allocated non-federal funding to help these students and will be in contact next week to provide additional instructions.”

CSU San Marcos “Funded through the generosity of our donors, CSUSM established the Student Relief Fund in April to provide financial assistance to students during this extraordinary period of uncertainty. Any CSUSM student is eligible for consideration of these funds, including DACA, international, and undocumented students. Please submit an application through your MyCSUSM account in the message center to be considered for these funds.”

Drake University: “The United States Department of Education requires all recipients of CARES Act Emergency Grants to be eligible to receive federal student aid. This federal requirement disqualifies a number of students, including international students and those who are legally in the United States through the DACA program. Drake University will continue to make grants available to these students through other funding sources, including the Drake Student Emergency Fund. ”

Emporia State University: “There are also some groups of students who are not covered by the CARES Act altogether and those include our students who are fully online, DACA students and international students. If you fall into one of these three groups, however, you can apply for emergency funding through a student emergency fund that has been established, and you can also find information about that on the financial aid website.”

John Jay College: “All John Jay students, including undocumented students are eligible for emergency grants of up to $1,500.”

Maryville College: “I am pleased to announce that money received from the U.S. Department of Education’s CARES Act/Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund—combined with contributions from generous donors—have allowed us to create a COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. We are hopeful that this institutional fund will allow us to assist hundreds of Maryville College students who have been financially impacted by this pandemic, regardless of their federal financial aid status or citizenship.”

Northern Illinois University: “All degree-seeking students, including undergraduate, graduate, law, undocumented and full- and part-time students, are eligible for the grants and resources offered through our Student Emergency Fund.”

Rutgers University: “Rutgers University-Newark is committed to our international students and undocumented/DACAmented students and has set funds aside for the Student Emergency Assistance Grant.”

UC Berkeley: “Emergency grants do not have to be paid back and students apply through an online application. Students are awarded based on need and on a first-come first-served basis.”

UC Santa Barbara: “Our undocumented student population is not eligible for federal funding through HEERF. This population is eligible for state and institutional aid, and because we know these students are also affected, UCSB Financial Aid & Scholarships has committed funding to award the Dream Scholars using parallel eligibility criteria. Eligible Dream Scholars with a California Dream Act Application will be awarded the UCSB COVID19 Relief Grant. Awards range from $650 to $1,700.”

University of Chicago: “The University will continue to support DACA and undocumented students during the COVID-19 pandemic by continuing to meet the full demonstrated financial aid needs of DACA and undocumented students in the College, and through University financial aid programs for students in professional, PhD, and master’s programs”

University of Colorado- Boulder: Undocumented students “may be considered for a CU Boulder-funded grant.”

University of Houston: “The Cougar Emergency Fund is a grant administered through the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services (DSAES), established through the generous gifts of alumni and friends of the University of Houston. It provides current degree-seeking students with assistance when an extraordinary need is identified, and when students find themselves dealing with a personal or family emergency which creates uncertainty in being able to meet the costs associated with attending school […] Citizenship and permanent resident status are not requirements; all students are eligible to apply.”

University of Florida: “UF Online, International, and DACA students are not eligible to receive CARES Act funding, but emergency funding for these students may be available through the UF https://www.sfa.ufl.edu/aidagator/https://www.sfa.ufl.edu/aidagator/Aid-a-Gator program Aid-a-gator.”

University of Kansas: “Unfortunately, the US Department of Education does not allow CARES Act Emergency funds to be used for international, DACA, or undocumented students or for any student who was exclusively taking online courses prior to March 13, 2020. KU has set aside a limited amount of institutional funds for undergraduate and graduate students who are not eligible for CARES Act funding.”

University of Redlands: “While the legislation limits eligibility for CARES Act funds only to students eligible to receive federal financial aid, excluding assistance to DACA and international students, the University will use its own funds to pay the same level of aid to all eligible students as outlined below.”

University of Washington: “While the U.S. Department of Education does not allow CARES funding to provide grants to undocumented students, the UW will provide grants to undocumented students who meet the same criteria for eligibility and greatest financial need as those students receiving a UW CARES Act Relief grant. These grants are funded by non-federal sources. The grant amounts are $1,200 per student and $1,700 for students with dependents.”

If you know of a school that should be added to this list, please comment below with the name of the school and link!

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Categories: COVID-19

Tags: COVID-19, education, Immigration, undocumented