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Undocumented students, DACA recipients, and mixed-status families
Arizona changed the landscape in 2022. Proposition 308 means undocumented students who graduated from an AZ high school can now pay in-state tuition at public universities — and private scholarships that don't require citizenship have always been available. This guide names both.
Proposition 308, passed by Arizona voters in November 2022, allows undocumented students who attended an Arizona high school for at least two years and graduated (or received a GED) to qualify for in-state tuition at ASU, UA, NAU, and AZ community colleges. Federal aid (Pell, federal loans) remains unavailable to undocumented students — but hundreds of private scholarships have no citizenship requirement. The financial picture is real, and it's worth understanding in full.
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Things worth knowing
Proposition 308 requires 2+ years in an AZ high school AND an AZ diploma or GED
Both conditions must be met. Students who attended Arizona middle school but graduated out of state, or who moved to Arizona for college, do not qualify. The Aid Finder tool walks through the exact eligibility questions.
TheDream.US is the largest scholarship fund specifically for DACA and TPS recipients
TheDream.US awards $33,000 for four-year degrees at over 75 partner colleges, including some in Arizona. DACA status (including expired or pending renewals) qualifies. Application opens in the fall of senior year.
Many community foundations and local scholarships have no citizenship requirement — and fewer applicants know it
The Arizona Community Foundation, individual family foundations, and many employer scholarships impose no citizenship requirement. The application language is often "AZ resident" or "AZ high school student" — not "U.S. citizen." Read every scholarship's fine print, not just the headline.
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