Dreamkeepers Program History

Scholarship America established Dreamkeepers in partnership with Lumina Foundation in 2004. Funding from Lumina Foundation resulted in the program being implemented in 11 community colleges throughout the United States in 2005. In 2008, the Walmart Foundation expanded the Dreamkeepers program to six additional community colleges and one four-year university.

In 2009, the Kresge Foundation joined Lumina Foundation and the Walmart Foundation to provide additional funding to expand the program to 13 additional community colleges (open enrollment colleges) and one inner city college. This joint grant also enabled significant program enhancements for existing Dreamkeepers colleges.

In 2012, the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation also joined the organizations funding Dreamkeepers, providing a grant that allowed the 16 schools in the Wisconsin Technical College System to offer the program.

Dreamkeepers has come a long way since 2005. It has grown into a national retention and capacity building program for participating colleges. Moreover, since 2006, participating colleges have seen outstanding results in the areas of student success and persistence. As the program continues to grow, more colleges and students will be better able to achieve their stated academic and education-related success goals.