MDRC Study

First of its kind study determines Grameen America’s microlending program reduces material hardship and increases credit worthiness, business ownership and earnings among women in poverty.

In March 2022, nonprofit research organization MDRC and Grameen America released the final findings from MDRC’s evaluation of our microfinance model. The rigorous, independent, third-party evaluation determined that the Grameen America microlending model resulted in a reduction of measures of material hardship, and an increase of credit scores and business ownership, for Grameen America members as compared to a control group.
It marks the first time a microfinance institution in the United States has been evaluated using a randomized controlled trial, the gold standard of evaluations.

Final Impact Overview

These 36-month results of the Grameen America program evaluation are the final installment of published impact findings in the long-term study conducted by MDRC. For more information, read the full report here.