After the passage of Proposition 308 in 2022, students without citizenship, including so-called dreamers — those brought to the U.S. as children and granted legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA — pay in-state tuition, so long as they attended and graduated from an Arizona high school

But financial aid creates another, sometimes insurmountable hurdle, as federal assistance through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, and Pell Grant is not available to any student who is not a U.S. citizen or an eligible noncitizen. What’s more, the Arizona Promise Scholarship, tuition coverage for in-state students, requires a FAFSA application or Pell Grant eligibility to apply.

The lack of state and federal funded aid leaves private scholarships to fill in the gaps. And amid increasing anxiety, one organization providing financial assistance has had to extend mental health support to respond to a barrage of existential threats to students without legal status, or from mixed status families, all while speaking from personal experience.

José Patiño, vice president of education and external affairs for Aliento, a support organization for undocumented, DACA, and mixed immigration status families, planned to attend Arizona State University in fall 2006.

The university initially offered Patiño in-state tuition with a full-ride scholarship. But after Proposition 300 — a ballot measure barring students who fail to show proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status from receiving in-state tuition and state financial aid — passed in November 2006, Patiño could not afford to attend.

But both Patiño and Reyna Montoya, the founder of Aliento, became scholars of the American Dream Fund, a scholarship program by Helios Education Fund to support undocumented students. Through Aliento, Patiño and Montoya carry on the same work to support students who are now walking a parallel path.

Most recently, the organization wrapped applications to the Adelante Scholarship, a partnership with Helios Education Foundation and Education Forward, to provide up to $5,000 per academic year to students pursuing a bachelor’s degree and $2,500 to students enrolled in an associate’s degree program.

“We’re talking about students, dreamers, who came here at a very young age – their parents, most likely are undocumented, they’re not working within the formal economy, they don’t have a lot of wealth,” Montoya said. “Being able to provide access to scholarships based on their merit or their economic need, I think it’s really critical to do.”

Patiño said there’s been a need to expand and bend the scope of support, too, given mounting anxiety for students without legal immigration status attending or seeking higher education.

He noted the loss of college campuses as protected areas, a fear of family members being detained or deported, and the subsequent interruption to education, and fears about their own immigration status giving way to a pause on pursuing post-secondary education at all.

“It is just a constant barrage,” Patiño said.

It’s also shifted how Aliento operates, with a pivot to a less public presence.

“Now, we have to keep it more word of mouth,” Patiño said. “Because a lot of folks fear that potentially we could have some individual or individuals who are not part of the community, who could potentially start harassing individuals, or potentially start reporting individuals.”

In looking to the future, Montoya said she would like to see the Arizona Promise Program extended to all Arizona residents.

“It’s really critical for us to see education as an investment,” Montoya said. “I am a testament of what happens when we invest in our young people and we just give them an opportunity for their sole desire to give back to Arizona, and now I’m living proof that I am giving back to my community.”

Rich Nickel, president and CEO of Education Forward, a partner in the Adelante scholarship and an advocate for the passage of Prop. 308, also added the importance of protecting Prop. 308 and continuing external support, again making the connection to the value to the state.

He noted the organization’s Achieve60AZ, an ongoing plan to reach 60% higher education attainment in the state, which Education Forward and Helios Education Foundation said could lead to $5 billion in economic gains for the state.

“The only way we can get there is if everyone in our state has an opportunity,” Nickel said. “What we’ve been able to do since (Prop. 308) is really include those students in our pipeline … students who have, you know, went to high school here and graduated here, have lived here their entire lives, but previously, really couldn’t afford to go.”