Dreamers Welcome!

Dreamer Scholarships

Trinity proudly welcomes Dreamers and encourages eligible students to apply to TheDream.US Scholarship program. The current round of scholarship applications opened on November 1. TheDream.US provides college scholarships to highly motivated Dreamers who seek a college education but cannot afford it; applicants must be DACA or TPS eligible and have applied for or received DACA or TPS approval. TheDream.US requires scholarship recipients to attend one of its partner institutions, and Trinity is the only partner university in Washington, D.C. Trinity is one of the first institutions to partner with TheDream.US when the program was launched in early 2014, and Trinity currently enrolls more than 100 Dreamer Scholars.

Start your TheDream.US application here and be sure to designate Trinity Washington University. TheDream.US offers two scholarships: The National Scholarship is for high school or community college graduates; the Opportunity Scholarship is for students who live in targeted, locked-out states where they cannot get in-state tuition. Your eligibility for both is based upon where you live. Review TheDream.US eligibility requirements and deadlines on TheDream.US site.

Making Dreams Come True

Trinity is honored to partner with TheDream.US, an important national movement that provides college scholarships to enable highly motivated, low-income Dreamers to earn college degrees. These scholarships make up the difference in the lost Pell grants and federal loans that Dreamers are not currently eligible to receive.

Five simple steps to apply to Trinity as a potential Dreamer Scholar:

  • Apply to Trinity if you have not already done so.
  • Apply for TheDream.US Scholarship.
  • You can use your TheDream.US application essay for your Trinity application.
  • Notify both Trinity Admissions and TheDream.US that you are applying to each.*
  • Notify Trinity Admissions if you are awarded TheDream.US Scholarship.*

* Notify Trinity Admissions Office by e-mail, admissions@trinitydc.edu or call, 202-884-9400.

“There’s no greater gift than the gift of a college education to lift the spirit, spark imagination and ensure prosperity. For Dreamers, however, these huge benefits too often remain a mere fantasy, a grave injustice because of short-sighted public policies on student financial aid. Dreamers Scholarships are a step forward in addressing a terrible injustice in our society….This Dreamers initiatives is also consistent with Catholic teachings on social justice and the dignity of human life.” Trinity President Patricia McGuire at the 2014 national press conference announcing the official launch of the Dreamers Scholarship program.

Read President McGuire’s blog post, “Dreaming of Justice,” about the launch of TheDream.US.

“My whole life changed when I came to Trinity”

Trinity Dreamer Sadhana Singh moved to the United States from Guyana, in South America, when she was 13. As a senior in high school in Monroe, Georgia, she knew that, as a Dreamer, “College was just not in the cards for me. I was raring to go, but I had to set my dream aside.”

When Singh heard about TheDream.US Scholarship program, she immediately applied and was accepted. She chose Trinity because “it is an excellent school, all women, and because I always wanted to go to college in the city. Trinity was the school that stood out for me.”

“My whole life changed when I came to Trinity,” says Singh. “Now I have this incredible opportunity. I don’t take this for granted – I am so grateful and so blessed. I have been given so much, and I want to give back – to Trinity, to my community.” She graduated from Trinity in May 2018 – and is now a program manager for TheDream.US.  Read more about Sadhana Singh and other Trinity Dreamers. Watch Sadhana Singh’s powerful TEDx talk on YouTube: “My Lives of Uncertainty.”

“I want to be the best, most productive American I can be.”

Meet Trinity Dreamer Scholar Bruna Distinto, who wrote a powerful essay published by Teen Vogue in January 2016 about an important Supreme Court case: “I used to be an undocumented teen immigrant until this new law changed my life. And how a new Supreme Court case could make me illegal again.” She writes: “There are few words that can fully describe the joy, relief, and appreciation I feel for the executive actions taken by President Obama on immigration. What he’s done for me and millions of other immigrants in the United States has literally changed our lives for the better. Without DACA, I would not be able to go to school or help my family.” Read her essay, published by Teen Vogue.