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Dreamers Graduate Loan Program

Impact Investments, Education, Workforce & Economic Mobility

Highlights

$50MTarget fund size to finance over 1,000 graduate loans for Dreamers with DACA or TPS status

260+

Loans financed through this program to date

Social Finance is managing a graduate school loan program for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) students who want to pursue professional degrees but can’t access public loan programs due to their immigration statuses. This first-of-its-kind impact investment fund, which started as a pilot with TheDream.US in 2021, aims to provide more than 1,000 loans to Dreamers to help them achieve economic and social mobility.

Goals

  • Expand access to opportunity: Dreamers who receive financial aid through the fund can access loans with interest rates based on those available to American citizens via the federal government’s Direct PLUS loan program.
  • Prioritize student wellbeing: Guided by a Student Bill of Rights, the program is designed to ensure that participants only take on manageable debt to achieve their career aspirations.
  • Catalyze economic mobility: With professional degrees in fields such as business, education, medicine, and law, graduates can land well-paying jobs in fields desperate for new talent and diverse perspectives. Over time, students build track records of repayment that help attract more low-cost capital to finance loans for future students.

Participant Stories

A young man in a burgundy sweater and tie.

For Ji Wan, a Student-Friendly Loan Opened Doors to a Masters Degree

With the aid of the Dreamers Graduate Loan Program, Ji Wan was able to finance graduate school for a Masters in Psychology. “The loan changed my situation a lot. I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to go to grad school without it, especially when every other loan program I spoke with said I wasn’t a citizen [and therefore was not eligible for a loan]. I’m really glad that there are people out there who believe in providing opportunities for DACA individuals like me,” said Ji Wan.

Thanks to a Game-Changing Loan, Homero is in Medical School
A smiling woman wearing a graduation cap and gown raises her arms in celebration, a testament to her journey navigating DACA and graduate school loans, all set against an outdoor backdrop with trees and people in the background.

Graduate School Loan Helped Jackie Earn a Master’s in Social Work, Inspire Other Dreamers

Jackie, who lives in Colorado, arrived in the U.S. from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, with her family when she was a baby. She wanted to become a social worker, but like other Dreamers, she was ineligible for federal student loans. TheDream.US, a program that provides undergraduate scholarships to undocumented students, granted her a scholarship to attend Colorado State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in social work. She was the first person in her family to graduate from college.

How It Works

Thanks to Social Finance, thousands of Dreamer college graduates will have a chance to become doctors, lawyers, teachers, and much more.

Donald Graham

Chairman of the Board, Graham Holdings Company

Donald Graham Headshot

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Photos courtesy of TheDream.US.

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