Information for Students

General Information for New Immigrant and Undocumented Students

Many undocumented/immigrant new students are incorrectly placed on the international student list and start receiving communication for international students. As an undocumented student, you do not attend orientation from the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS).In order to stop the emails from the ISS office please do the following:

Please view the emails from ISSS where they ask if you will be filling out an I-20.
If you fill out the form and click ‘No’ I will not be filling out an I-20 you will be taken off the international student office emails.

If emails persist or if you need assistance please contact us at undoc@umd.edu .

After stopping email communication from ISS, please contact the Office of Student Orientation and Transition to sign up for the appropriate orientation. Their contact information can be found HERE. Please take a look at their website for lots of information about orientation and transitioning into campus.

This is the process that you will follow to ask for consideration of in-state residency, making you eligible for in-state tuition rates. If you are a student on DACA, TPS, or an undocumented student each process of asking for in-state residency is different.

Please email resclass@umd.edu for information about how to apply for residency reclass.

Undocumented students are automatically considered out-of state students when accepted into UMD, even if you received in-county rates at a community college. This important to note, since that means that out-of-state students are charged out-of-state tuition rates unless you meet the qualifications to change your residency status to be charged in-state rates. There are strict requirements needed to qualify for an exception to this and not every undocumented student may qualify. It is important to view the Office of Residency Reclassifcation’s website to view the policies. You must submit paperwork to the Office of Residency Reclassification. The process of what you are eligible for and what paperwork to submit varies based on the policy that applies to you. Please email resclass@umd.edu for information about their procedures. While we do not administer this process we are also willing to connect you with this office.

Health insurance is a requirement of the University of Maryland. Students will notice at the start of the semester a charge for the university insurance. If you are uninsured, the university mandates that insurance must be added to a student’s billing. This is often one of the hidden costs of higher education that students are not aware of. Please be sure to take this into account when budgeting your financial costs. This typically means that it adds at least $2000 (or more) to your cost for education in addition to all tuition and fees. For the latest rates please view this website here and scroll down to the part that says ‘rates’ for the academic year.

The only way to opt-out of health insurance is if you already have health insurance. Some students may already have health insurance through the employer of their parents. Students must fill out an insurance waiver at the start of the semester and show proof of insurance by a certain deadline to remove the charge. Please view that same webpage to verify the deadline of the insurance waiver.

In addition, the university does require students to have certain vaccination requirements. Please view this website in order to find out more information about what is required and check out their separate FAQhttps://health.umd.edu/immunization-frequently-asked-questions page.

The Undergraduate Student Legal Aid Office provides free assistance to
currently enrolled University of Maryland undergraduate students. The office
handles all types of legal inquiries and assists students in a wide variety of legal
situations.

If you are planning to live off-campus, we recommend that you set a meeting with the office to go over the terms of the lease. Fully comprehending your lease is very important, especially if this is your first time renting.
Legal Aid provides immigration appointments each month with attorneys for immigration matters. Spots fill up quickly, we recommend students schedule their appointment roughly a month in advance. Legal aid can assist you with a variety of immigration questions, DACA/TPS applications, and consultations.

Financial Resources

We understand that a 4 - year college degree is a costly journey. Please keep in mind these things to consider about Financial Aid. As always we encourage you to reach out to UMD's Office of Student Financial Aid at for any questions about your financial aid account. If you need assistance contacting someone from that department please contact us at undoc@umd.edu so that we may try and connect you.

In order to begin to start figuring out the cost of attendance, we encourage you to view the cost of tuition and fees for your academic year. It is important to note that most, if not all, higher education institutions raise the price of tuition each year by a certain percentage. Each year we encourage you to view that year's cost of attendance to stay accurately informed. Please also note that certain programs may have differential tuition -- which means that you cost of tuition and fees will be slightly higher than the average cost of fees. Please check with your program or program advisor in order to ask if your program is a part of the differential tuition.

UMD Cost of Attendance - Undergraduate
Undergraduate Tuition and Fees for the Year
Graduate Tuition Fees for the Year

It is crucial for undocumented students to know that the majority of undocumented students are considered out -of-state when accepted into UMD, even if a student has in-county costs for their community college. This is important to note since out of state will mean that you will be charged out of state tuition rates unless you are able to qualify to adjust your status to in-state. In order to petition to be considered for instate please view the Residency Reclassification tab.

Maryland State Financial Aid Application

Beginning September 2019, students regardless of their immigration status will be able to go to community college for free (if their families meet the income requirements determined by Maryland state). If someone qualifies for the Maryland Dream Act, they also qualify for Maryland state grants and scholarships. However, they must submit the MSFAA by MARCH 1 each year for the following year's consideration.

For example: If you are filling out the MSFFA for the year 2022-2023, you will be required to submit your MSFAA by March 1st of 2022.

For information on the Maryland State Financial Aid Application go to their website here and take a look at the user guide here.

If you have specific questions for attending the University of Maryland contact our Financial Aid liaison working with undocumented and immigrant students

Malina Heng | 0102 Lee Building | mheng@umd.edu | 301-314-9859

We totally understand that college is expensive! UMD has recently allowed undocumented students eligible for merit and need-based scholarships. To qualify students must fill out the MSFAA before the start of the school year.

Though campus scholarships do not cover the complete cost of tuition, we recommend you also expand and search for outside scholarships. Much of this work needs to be done the prior year of your enrollment since most scholarship deadlines are based on the following year's enrollment.

If you would like us to reach out to a specific college/department to see if your college program has scholarships please let us know!

We believe that you can't start the financial conversations too early so please reach out to us to set up a meeting in person, over the phone, or via Zoom to discuss what paying for college may look like for you. While we may not have all the answers our goal is to share the information we have to best support you in this process.

The Department of Student Affairs has a Student Crisis Fund. This fund is for any any student in crisis that needs funding for a non-tuition related expense. We highly encourage you to apply to this fund. If you should have any questions about this fund feel free to reach out to us and we will gladly help get you in contact with anyone from that department that may help you with any questions.

Being financially literate during and after college is crucial to staying on top of things. Below are a few resources to help you acquire the skills to take control of your finances.