Mark Zuckerberg during the Mobile World Congress 2015 on March 2, 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. (2015 Getty Images)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan pledged $5 million to help undocumented students in the U.S. get college education.
Announcing the news on his Facebook page on Wednesday, the couple said they made the donation to scholarship fund TheDream.us.
“They want to remain in the country they love and be part of America’s future. But without documentation, it’s often a struggle to get a college education, and they don’t have access to any kind of federal aid,” the 31-year-old billionaire wrote in his post.
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The media mogul added that the United States will “make greater progress” by helping young immigrants get access to new opportunities.
“American was founded as a nation of immigrants. We ought to welcome smart and hardworking young people from every nation, and to help everyone in our society achieve their full potential,” Zuckerberg wrote.
Zuckerberg, who has previously worked with TheDream.US, said his $5 million donation will create a scholarship fund for more than 400 immigrants in the San Francisco Bay Area over the next five years.
“Over the coming years, our hope is to prepare hundreds of students to graduate with associate or bachelor’s degrees so they can build meaningful new careers,” he wrote.”
TheDream.US targets students who came to the United States as children and received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival status, or DACA, an immigration policy instituted by President Barack Obama three years ago that issues them an exception from deportation and allows them to work and study.
“This is just a small step towards creating immigration and education solutions that help our community and country make progress,” Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook.
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