What Are Undocumented/DREAMer Students?

An undocumented student refers to students born outside of the United States, but who have lived in the country for a significant portion of their lives, and reside in the United States without the legal permission of the federal government.
Are often ineligible for careers that required licensing, background checks, or a Social Security Number.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

DACA, an executive memo issued on June 15, 2012 offers undocumented persons under the age of 31, meeting specific criteria, deferred action of deportation.
DACA does not provide an individual with lawful status.
Through the Department of Homeland Security, DACA recipients are granted the right to an Illinois driver’s license, a Social Security Number and a work permit.
DACA students are eligible for paid internships and student employment
Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
Renew Your DACA

Next Steps

Apply for Admission (NO application fee is required)

1) Undocumented/DREAMer students, fill out our online application. Please put 000-00-000 in the social security field – do not make up a number or use your ITIN number. University of St. Francis will give you an assigned ID number once you submit the application. Please put “NO” for U.S. Citizen. Please put “NO” for Applying to Financial Aid.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students, fill out our online application. Please put 000-00-000 in the social security field – do not put your SSN given to you by DACA or use your ITIN number. University of St. Francis will give you an assigned ID number once you submit the application. Please put “NO” for U.S. Citizen. Please put “NO” for Applying to Financial Aid.

2) Turn in high school transcripts and/or ALL college transcripts. We are test-optional so you only need to turn in your SAT or ACT scores if you would like to use them for admissions. You will select either Test-Optional or Non-Test-Optional on the application.

3) We highly encourage you to make an appointment with either your admission counselor or with our Undocumented Student Liaison.

Please Submit ALL DOCUMENTS to the USF Admissions Office.

Financing Your Education

All USF freshman and gransfer scholarships are open to undocumented/DACA students.

Undocumented and DACA students may be eligible to receive privately funded merit scholarships or grant aid. They are not eligible to receive state and federal financial aid. Students should begin looking for scholarships as early as possible. Contact individuals, groups, or colleges/universities about resources that may be available.

The Sisters of Mary Immaculate at University of St. Francis has dedicated funds in a form of a scholarship specifically for undocumented/DACA students called the Access Grant. Your admission counselor will provide you with the details of the application, deadline and requirements. The application is generally open in March and student are awarded in June.

Our Admissions and Financial Aid Office does not recommend that an Undocumented/DACA student fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If the student lives in the state of Illinois, then we recommend they consider eligibility for the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid for consideration of IL MAP Grant and USF Grant. If the student does not live in Illinois, then we have a separate internal form to fill out and find financial need for consideration of USF Grant.

Resources/Scholarship Opportunities