At Santa Clara we welcome students from all backgrounds regardless of citizenship status or national origin to apply for admission.
Undocumented students should apply in the same manner as all other applicants. Please follow the guidelines that pertain to you either as a first-year or transfer student. You will use the Common Application and will need to review our recommended courses to complete before applying.
Santa Clara University utilizes the Common Application only. Undocumented students are not considered international applicants for our admission purposes. As such we encourage you to self-disclose your status by selecting your country of citizenship and appropriate visa category under the Geography and Citizenship section of the common application. Although not required, you may add additional information that you feel best represents your status and limitations under the additional comments section. This will help us streamline the completion of your application. For questions please contact our office.
Financial Aid Information
At Santa Clara University all students are automatically considered for all our merit based scholarships. You will not have to complete an additional application at the time you submit your Common Application. For students who reside in California, we require that you fill out the CA Dream ACT for state financial aid consideration. Please review the selection criteria before applying. In addition Santa Clara University offers a unique and very selective scholarship opportunity. Only admitted students in the entering class will be granted the opportunity to submit an application for consideration of our most selective award known as the Alberto Hurtado, S.J. Scholarship. Note that if you would like to be considered for the Hurtado Scholarship and are applying as a transfer student, you must apply for the fall quarter only. First-year students may apply Early Action or Regular Decision to be considered for the scholarship.
Hurtado Scholarship
The Alberto Hurtado, S.J. Scholarship is an independent award package, granted by the Jesuit Community of Santa Clara University, which covers the cost of a 4-year undergraduate education at SCU. This scholarship is set aside for students who have met the initial acceptance requirements of the university and who are considered most needy by terms of Federal eligibility. Following the Jesuit belief that, “Education is a God given human right,” this scholarship currently exists to support undocumented students who are ineligible for traditional established fund avenues for higher education. The students awarded the scholarship are selected by the Jesuit Community at Santa Clara University.