MPOWER Financing Offers $500,000 in Scholarships to Refugee and International Students

Scholarships will be awarded to promising refugee and international students in the U.S. and Canada

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MPOWER Financing, the leading provider of education loans to promising students worldwide, announced today it is offering a series of scholarships to support refugees and international students pursuing higher education in the United States and Canada.

With the addition of the MPOWER Refugee Scholarship — a new scholarship that supports refugees, asylum seekers, and other students fleeing harsh conditions from around the world — MPOWER’s total five-year scholarship pledge combined with that of donors has exceeded $500,000. The scholarships will be administered through MPOWER’s Global Citizens Fund, MPOWER’s nonprofit arm.

“Recent events in Afghanistan and Ukraine rallied our company to do more for bright minds facing tragic conditions in their home countries. We believe education is the cornerstone of understanding and compassion, and we hope this scholarship will play a part in investing in these students’ futures,” said Manu Smadja, CEO and Co-Founder of MPOWER Financing.

The MPOWER Refugee Scholarship is made possible thanks to a generous donation from Tytus Michalski, Managing Partner at Fresco Capital, who was once a refugee himself and is now an active student mentor.

“Students can only benefit from education if they have the necessary access and resources,” said Michalski. “I was one of those fortunate enough to experience this transformation in access and support after moving to Canada from Poland during the early 1980s. Helping vulnerable students overcome challenges is also helping ourselves because we all benefit from their future success.”

To be eligible for the MPOWER Refugee Scholarship, students must be a refugee or asylum seeker (or be pursuing such status) from any country in the world, or have Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or be a beneficiary of Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) status. The scholarship is open to students pursuing education at any of the over 400 institutions MPOWER supports in the United States and Canada.

Students who meet the criteria are invited to apply on MPOWER’s website. The site also provides additional information regarding other scholarships for Women in STEM, MBA students, and international, DACA, and refugee students more broadly.

About MPOWER Financing

MPOWER Financing, headquartered in Washington, D.C., and with employees worldwide, is a mission-driven fintech company and the leading provider of global education loans. It is the only student lender worldwide that uses a proprietary algorithm to analyze overseas and domestic credit data as well as future earning potential to serve promising international and DACA students. MPOWER works with over 400 top universities across the U.S. and Canada to provide financing to students from over 200 countries. The MPOWER team consists heavily of former international students and provides students with personal financial education and career support to prepare for life after school.

MPOWER was named one of the best places to work, one of the best tech workplaces for diversity, and one of American Banker’s top fintech firms to work for five years in a row. MPOWER is backed by Tilden Park Capital Management, King Street Capital Management, ETS Strategic Capital, Drakes Landing Associates, Pennington Alternative Income Management, Zephyr Peacock, Breega, Potencia Ventures, Goal Solutions, Gray Matters Capital, Cometa, AI8, DreamIt, 1776, Village Capital, Fresco, K Street and University Ventures.

Global Citizens Fund, a 501(c)3 organization, is the nonprofit arm of MPOWER Financing whose mission is to expand the reach and impact of scholarships, grants, and other activities that support international students in the U.S.