Editor’s note: Catharine Li first published this work on July 31, 2025, and Anirudh Karunakaran translated it into Spanish.
According to a representative of the Texas Junta Coordinadora de Educaci n Superior, certain non-citizen students who previously qualified for the state exam also lost their eligibility for state financial aid programs.
The legally binding declaration, which was published on July 18, now requires the student to provide proof of legal presence to the institution where they are enrolled in order to be eligible for state bail and/or state financial assistance.
The change occurred when a federal judge invalidated the Texas Dream Act in June. The Solicitud de Ayuda Financiera Estatal de Texas is available to students who do not qualify for federal financial aid, including those without documentation.If they met certain requirements for residency in Texas and signed the earlier version of the declaration, they stated their intention to apply for permanent residence as soon as possible.
The TASFA application process has not changed, and the institutions continue to determine the eligibility based on the student’s residency status, according to a communication from Jennifer Love, vice president of the Office of Becas y Ayuda Financiera y Texas One Stop.
On July 11, the university sent out a letter asking students who were not citizens or permanent residents and who had previously qualified for state tuition and/or financial aid to provide documentation of their legal presence.
“The students who were classified as non-residents are eligible for non-resident prizes, just as all of the other non-resident students are,” Love said.
Awards such as the Texas Advance Commitment Award, the Texas Public Education Grant, the TEXAS Grant, and Towards Excellence, Access, and Success are examples of financial aid available to students who submit a completed declaration. According to the junta’s data, $598,758 was awarded to university students who presented their final declaration to the Texas Grant in 2024.
Not all students who qualify for the state exam or TASFA are undocumented, such as Amy, a tercer student, entrant, and requester of affirmative aid who is referred under a false name for security reasons.
After arriving alone in the United States in 2020, Amy graduated from a Texas secondary public school and successfully completed the TASFA process with limited guidance. Awaiting the resolution of his asylum request, he stated that he was able to obtain an employment authorization document.
According to public records obtained by the junta, the total amount of aid given to university students who established residence in Texas by a judicial declaration in 2024 was $4.4 million, of which $1.7 million came directly from the university.
A representative from the university will provide comments on the internal calendar to finish the decisions about residence and reclassification for the affected students, and whether this would impact the processing time for students who are eligible for TASFA.
An official from the junta confirms via email that the agency is legally required to provide access to TASFA. The agency was changing its rules to comply with the court order that ended the Texas Dream Act, as stated by Commissioner Wynn Rosser in a July 18 letter sent to institution presidents.
Every day, Amy receives about $30,000 in financial assistance to cover the cost of the matr cula and the maintenance expenses. However, after receiving the letter requesting documentation of legal presence just two days prior to the date of July 24th, Amy stated that she did not have any information regarding their residency classification and that her TASFA had not been processed.
“TASFA was the only way I could help the school, and that’s the only reason I’m here in Utah,” Amy said. They may have accepted me, but if I couldn’t go as an immigrant, a nica daughter, or someone whose parents are in their country of origin, then that was the only way to accomplish it.
