Philadelphia Immigration Law Firm Reports: Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates Supports Scholarship Fund for Young Immigrants
Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, is among one of the top sponsors of an innovative college scholarship fund for children that are living in the U.S. as legal temporary residents. The goal of the $25 million scholarship is to aid with the cost of higher education. The scholarship has gained bipartisan support while Congress continues to address the issue of more widespread immigration reform.
According to the Migration Policy Institute, there are an estimated 240,000 college students residing in the U.S. legally by means of deferred action. The TheDream.US. scholarship fund was created to address the unique problems undocumented students encounter in covering the cost of higher education. It will grant 1,000 full-tuition awards per academic year to students living in the U.S. as temporary residents. In order to qualify, a student must be residing in the U.S. under President Obama’s program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.
TheDream.US offers scholarships for non-liberal arts degrees. This includes fields such as nursing, teaching and accounting. Each scholarship is worth $25,000 each. The fund negotiated tuition rates with specific schools to guarantee that the scholarship will subsidize the total tuition costs of a degree program. To date, 38 scholarships have been granted.
TheDream.US scholarship is financially funded by many powerful people who support education philanthropy. The list includes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, former Washington Post CEO Don Graham, Democratic National Committee Finance Chairman Henry Muñoz, former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Inter-American Development Bank.
College students living in the U.S. via deferred action are not eligible for financial aid for college such as federal student loans or Pell grants. TheDream.US scholarship makes higher education accessible to many young immigrants that may not have had the opportunity to consider attending college otherwise. There is a current bill in the Senate that would give temporary residents the opportunity to apply for Title VI loans, but still denies them access to Pell grants. If the current version of what is called the DREAM Act is passed, scholarship funds such as TheDream.US will remain a necessity for undocumented youth to be able to afford higher education. If more substantial immigration reform occurs, young temporary residents of the U.S. will be able to take advantage of the complete complement of federal student aid in order to pursue their educational dreams.
Surin & Griffin, P.C.: Philadelphia Immigration Lawyers
For information on TheDream.US. scholarship fund or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, call the Philadelphia immigration law firm of Surin & Griffin, P.C. Our attorneys focus their practice of law on helping clients with immigration, citizenship and nationality law issues. Our law offices are located in Philadelphia; however, we represent clients worldwide. Call us at 215-925-4435 or contact us online.
