Why We Exist
Graduate Futures Foundation was built around a specific, solvable problem: talented graduate students who earned their place in STEM programs but have no legal path to funding. We are here to bridge that gap.
The gap we couldn't ignore.
Graduate Futures Foundation was founded in 2025 after a simple realization: there are students getting into STEM graduate programs at excellent universities — students who did everything right — who cannot attend because they have no legal path to funding.
These students are ineligible for federal financial aid due to their immigration status. Many are also legally barred from working. The combination is decisive: without a scholarship, graduate school — already theirs by merit — is simply unaffordable.
We started small, on purpose. One scholarship. One student. One institution. Our first award was made in Spring 2026 — a Statistics master's student at UC Davis. We are building from there.
“Graduate Futures Foundation expands access to graduate education by providing direct scholarship funding to STEM students who are ineligible for federal financial aid due to their immigration status.”
Merit over paperwork
We fund students who earned their admission. Their immigration status doesn't change that.
Privacy by design
We do not collect or store immigration documentation. Self-certification is sufficient.
100% to scholars
Every scholarship-designated dollar goes directly to the student's institution.
Who We Are
Graduate Futures Foundation is led by a founding board of three directors based in California. Our board brings backgrounds in technology and education — and a shared conviction that merit should determine who attends graduate school, not access to a financial aid system that excludes too many.