The Impact of Dreamkeepers

Dreamkeepers has proven to be a catalyst that keeps students enrolled in their college programs. In 2011-12, 95 percent of Dreamkeepers recipients were able to complete their current term.

The Need
According to the U.S. Department of Education the leading reason students drop out of college is a lack of financial resources. More than 30 percent of college students leave after their first year and 50 percent never graduate. Many of these students leave because of an unforeseen financial emergency. The Dreamkeepers program provides a safety net for students; Dreamkeepers helps students overcome unforeseen financial emergencies so that they may remain in school to achieve their stated education related goals.

The Impact
Dreamkeepers is currently offered at 43 colleges across the nation. While the Dreamkeepers program empowers students to overcome financial emergencies, it also connects students to other support systems within their colleges, and provides a financial literacy resource online portal that helps educate students on critical financial management skills and techniques.

The Stories
"The Dreamkeepers program has allowed Durham Technical Community College to further manifest our desire to help students stay in school and meet their educational and career goals," says Beth Shulman from Durham Technical Community College. "We know that students leave school because of unforeseeable life events that impact their finances. With Dreamkeepers, we can keep some of those students in school and avoid having them lose ground on their programs. That means both the students and the school win."

To learn first-hand about the impact of Dreamkeepers, you can also meet Seberina and Viviana, and visit the News page to hear from even more students.