The Promise Fund: Support for Undocumented Students at NIU

Support some of NIU's most inspiring, resilient, and most promising Huskies.

Determination, initiative, and hard work—as a university community and as a nation, we believe these are the stepping stones along the path to success. But what happens when you encounter a roadblock too big for you to handle alone?

At Northern Illinois University, students who are undocumented immigrants face such a roadblock every day.

On any given day, there are hundreds of bright, promising students working in NIU’s libraries, classrooms, and labs who have yet to attain U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency. They embody every quality we as Huskies celebrate. They work hard and make meaningful contributions to the university experience. Yet, because they are undocumented, they face a variety of hardships that their U.S. citizen peers do not.

Many undocumented students live under the threat of being forced to leave the only country they’ve ever known. Their undocumented status makes it difficult to find employment to help pay for college. Unable to receive federal or state financial aid, their graduation day lies in clear view, but is shadowed by significant barriers.

Like all true Huskies, NIU’s undocumented students face these obstacles with a spirit of determination, grit, and initiative. They continue to push forward with the hope that, someday, their persistence will pay off in the form of a college degree. That degree, for many, is the ticket out of poverty, violence, and other challenges that their parents, and they themselves, have faced for much of their lives.

Yet, as the cost of a college education approaches $29,000 a year, paying for school has become a roadblock that these students cannot overcome alone. Fortunately, they are not alone.

Gifts to the NIU Foundation Promise Fund help undocumented students remain in school, attain their degrees, and gain a firmer foothold on a brighter future. This support provides scholarships to undocumented students who work hard and deserve access to opportunities they have earned.

The students who benefit from these scholarships take the support they receive seriously. Through other scholarships that have been available to this point, their work ethic and commitment display a heartfelt gratitude and an acute awareness of every dollar’s ability to move them closer to a better future.

Within these students are hopes, dreams, talents, and contributions that hold vast promise—and not only for themselves but for the futures of their families, communities, and our nation as a whole. They cannot do it alone. No contribution is too small, and no other time is more urgent.

Please support the NIU Promise Scholarship today and get behind some of our most inspiring, most resilient, and most promising Huskies.