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Dreamers Graduate Loan Program

Impact Investments, Education, Workforce & Economic Mobility

Highlights

$75MTarget fund size to finance over 1,500 graduate loans for Dreamers with DACA or TPS status

170+

Loans financed through this program to date

Learn more and apply →

Students with questions about the program and scholarship programs, institutions, or associations interested in becoming partners can email dreamersgradloan@socialfinance.org.

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 1,500 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. To further enable manageable debt, participants receive free, individualized access to 1:1 financial coaching through a partnership between Social Finance and UnidosUS.
  • 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
Homero Coss Headshot

Thanks to a Game-Changing Loan, Homero is in Medical School

Homero moved with his family from a border town in Mexico to Texas when he was just three. Growing up in Laredo, he decided he wanted to become an osteopath. But, like other Dreamers, he didn’t have access to federal student loans to attend college, much less medical school. After winning a scholarship, he got some good news: TheDream.US, in partnership with Social Finance, was piloting a new initiative.

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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