Editor’s Note: A contributing source to this article previously worked at The Daily Texan. Quotes and statements made by sources in the article do not reflect the view of The Daily Texan. 

Certain non-citizen students who previously qualified for in-state tuition will also lose eligibility for state financial aid programs, according to a spokesperson for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. 

The revised affidavit, released on July 18, now requires the student to provide evidence of lawful presence to the institution they are enrolling in to receive in-state tuition and/or state financial aid. 

The change comes after a federal judge struck down the Texas Dream Act in June. Students who did not qualify for federal financial aid, including undocumented students, could complete the Texas Application for State Financial Aid if they established Texas residency under certain criteria and signed the previous affidavit of their intent to apply for permanent residency as soon as possible.

The TASFA application process remains unchanged, and institutions will continue to determine eligibility based on a student’s residency status, said Jennifer Love, associate vice provost for the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid and Texas One Stop, in a statement.

The University sent a letter requesting documentation of lawful presence from non-citizen or non-permanent resident students who previously qualified for either or both in-state tuition and financial aid on July 11. 

“Students reclassified as non-residents will only be eligible for non-resident awards, just like all other non-resident students,” Love said.

Awards such as the Texas Advance Commitment Award, the Texas Public Education Grant and the Towards Excellence, Access, and Success, or the ‘TEXAS’ Grant, are examples of financial aid available to affidavit students. In 2024, $598,758 was awarded to University affidavit students through the TEXAS Grant, according to the board’s data. 

Not all students who qualify for in-state tuition or TASFA are undocumented, such as Amy, an incoming junior and affirmative asylum applicant who will be referred to under a pseudonym for fear of safety. 

After arriving in the U.S. alone in 2020, Amy graduated from a Texas public high school and navigated the TASFA process with limited guidance. While Amy is still waiting for their asylum application to be processed, they said they were able to obtain an employment authorization document. 

In 2024, the total aid granted to University students who established Texas residency through an affidavit was $4.4 million, with $1.7 million in total aid directly from the University, according to public records obtained from the board. 

A University spokesperson declined to comment on the internal timeline to complete residency re-classification decisions for impacted students, and whether this would impact the processing time for students still eligible for TASFA. 

A spokesperson for the board confirmed in an email that the agency is legally required to provide access to TASFA. The agency was still amending its rules to comply with the court order ending the Texas Dream Act, Commissioner Wynn Rosser wrote in a July 18 letter to institution presidents.

Each year, Amy receives around $30,000 in financial aid to help cover the cost of tuition and living expenses. But after receiving the letter requesting documentation of lawful presence only two days before the July 24 deadline, Amy said they do not have information on their residency classification and their TASFA has not been processed. 

“TASFA was the only way I could go to school, and that’s the only reason why I’m here at UT,” Amy said. “Yes, they could have accepted me, but if I’m not able to pay as an immigrant, or as an only child or as someone whose parents are in their home country, then that was the only way I could have done it.”