Immigrant scholarship program begins accepting applications

United States, 31st October: Now pursuing college studies will become a reality for a large number of immigrant students in the US.

This will be possible due to the acceptance of applications by Illinois Dream Fund.

DREAM Fund starts taking applications—The Illinois state fund aimed to offer scholarships to immigrants wanting to begin college studies will start accepting applications soon. And this is a great step for numerous immigrants living in the US.

The DREAM Fund is a private fund initiated by Illinois to help provide monetary assistance to immigrants wanting to get college education. It’s a non-profit organization and has raised $500,000 through private donations till now. The DREAM Fund is the result of a legislation by Illinois cleared in 2011.

From 1st November, 2012, Illinois DREAM Fund will begin accepting applications from immigrant students. Illinois is expecting huge response from immigrant students for this state scholarship program for immigrants.

Special focus to undocumented immigrants in Illinois—To help reduce financial strain on undocumented immigrant students, Illinois DREAM Fund is offering financial aid to those wanting to get college education.

This was revealed by associate director of minority student outreach at Illinois Institute of Technology and head of the fund, Tanya Cabrera.

The priority is to care for the immigrants who are living in Illinois, added Cabrera.

While refuting all such claims by the critics that DREAM Fund may result in increasing undocumented immigration, she maintained that it is quite unfortunate that other US states have failed to recognize the need for providing financial aid to undocumented immigrant students in the US.

Such a step is making Illinois come up with most immigrant-friendly rules in the US. It will help immigrant students pursue their dream of getting college education, irrespective of their legal status in the US, said Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Mayor.

Who is eligible to apply for DREAM Fund—

• In order to apply for DREAM Fund, immigrant students need to have a minimum of 2.5 GPA;

• Those graduating from high school need to have at least 17 ACT score;

• Immigrant students currently enrolled in two-year colleges can make application for $2,000 scholarships;

• For those attending four-year institutes, scholarship amount is $6,000.

• For immigrant students living in Illinois, the Illinois DREAM Fund program is open.

So, it really does not matter whether they have the papers or not.