ProsperityME typically provides community college scholarships to a handful of asylum seeker students each year.
Now, executive director Claude Rwaganje said the group aims to support at least 15 students per year, thanks to an additional $2.2 million raised from private donors and foundations.
The goal, he said, is economic empowerment – through community college, a technical school, or a professional certificate program.
"If we send people to education, we are giving them a chance to succeed in their jobs and to be competitive in the workforce," Rwaganje said, adding that helping more new immigrants access education could help the state meet its goal of adding 75,000 people to the workforce by the end of the decade.
"So the new Mainers, the immigrants, are part of the fabric to help Maine's economy," he said.
Rwaganje said that, due to their immigration status, asylum seekers are not eligible for federal student aid.
Since the scholarship fund was created several years ago, ProsperityME has helped about 50 asylum seeker students to pursue higher education.
