Soccer star but undocumented, can he get a soccer scholarship?
 

Hello All,

My son is a high school senior and a very good soccer player. Many universities are interested in him but he is undocumented. Can he still get a scholarship? He does not have a SSN either, can he fill out the FAFSA? Please help becuase the application deadline is running out. Thanks

Re: Soccer star but undocumented, can he get a soccer scholarship?
 

What state are you in?

The actual answer really has to be asked of each individual school, some provide tuition waivers as a go between so he doesn't have to pay out of state tuition, but again that all depends on the individual schools.

He can apply for FAFSA, however upon listing his status he will be rejected so no real point in doing it.

Re: Soccer star but undocumented, can he get a soccer scholarship?
 

Should he apply as an international student? How should undocumented students fill out their applications? As regular students or international students. Thanks for your help.

Re: Soccer star but undocumented, can he get a soccer scholarship?
 

As a regular student, when you get to the slot asking about citizenship status etc. just leave it blank (if online applications don't allow then use a paper app. and mail it in). Usually the school will either get the hint or they will follow up with you and from there you can meet with em' and explain the situation and see what is available etc.

Again, the state you are in or state of the schools he is applying to will help as we can direct you to specific organizations / relate from personal experiences.

Re: Soccer star but undocumented, can he get a soccer scholarship?
 

I am in the military and is currently stationed in San Antonio, TX but we will be going to MD by July 09. Its a long story.

Re: Soccer star but undocumented, can he get a soccer scholarship?
 

hmmm you're right, sounds complicated.

I sent you a PM.

MALDEF has a list of scholarships undocumented students can qualify for, it should be a big help.

Re: Soccer star but undocumented, can he get a soccer scholarship?
 

Hey teeman,

It really depends on the school. If the school is willing to provide a soccer scholarship to your son, then it doesn't matter that he is undocumented. As an undocumented student, he cannot receive any federal aid but he can still file a FAFSA. He just has to file a paper copy with the school and leave the SSN field blank and make sure to mark "Non-citizen nor eligible non-citizen" in the citizenship field.

Many schools don't consider citizenship status when providing scholarships that come from the schools own funds, such as athletic scholarships or academic scholarships etc. However, scholarships that are funded by the state or federal government are only open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents. In recent news, an extremely gifted student who was undocumented was admitted into Harvard on a full scholarship. So you see, our premier schools don't take a narrow minded view on a student's potential simply based on their immigration status.

However, some schools are highly sensitive to public reaction and generally don't provide scholarships to undocumented students even if the money is coming from the school's own funds.

Bottom line, talk to a financial aid administrator or the director of financial aid of the school your son is applying to. My guess is that they won't care about his immigration status.

Re: Soccer star but undocumented, can he get a soccer scholarship?
 

I was receiving my partial athletic scholarship for football at the university I went to without any problems but I did have a SSN. My thought is that a lot of schools use their athletic programs as a form of marketing and if they think that someone is good enough to improve their program and increase enrolment they will make the funds available (especially private institutions).

FAFSA can be filled out (and some schools require that it is filled out in order to receive the athletic scholarship). You can fill it out just don’t lie on it and don’t expect to receive money from the federal government. I had to fill one out in order to get my athletic scholarship and I had no expectation of receiving any federal financial aid. The odd thing is that I was rejected for any FAFSA related financial aid because of my status but I did receive the PELL Grant and some other grant.

Re: Soccer star but undocumented, can he get a soccer scholarship?
 

Thanks. This is making sense now. I am having more questions.

Re: Soccer star but undocumented, can he get a soccer scholarship?
 

So I assume that the SSN is not his? I only used my SSN because it was my own real genuine SSN. I would not recommend using someone else’s or false/fake documents. And yes, I think federal government may have questions when they see that the SSN used for a FAFSA is registered to a 12yr old.