Victor Santos

Victor santos

Degree: 2008, MPA

Job Title: Associate Vice President, Government Relations, Thurgood Marshall College Fund

Victor Santos (MPA, '08) is the Associate Vice President of Government Relations at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), where he has served since 2018. While at TMCF, Victor has helped lead TMCF's advocacy efforts to increase Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Title III funding by 64% between 2017 and 2024, followed by an additional 50% increase in 2025. Victor also helped to pass the HBCU PARTNERS Act, which mandated cooperation between federal agencies with HBCUs, pass the FUTURE Act, which secured $2.55 billion in permanent funding for HBCUs and MSIs, and helped to deliver over $6 billion in Covid-19 relief funds for HBCUs in 2020 and 2021.

Prior to working at TMCF, Victor was the Director of Government Relations at Delaware State University (DSU), where he oversaw advocacy efforts for the legislation that created the INSPIRE Scholarship program and secured record state capitol investment for the university, including $10 million in funding to build the Optical Science Center for Applied Research (OSCAR) Building.

Victor began his career working in the Office of US Senator Thomas R. Carper (D-DE). He views his experience in both the classroom and the field as critical for developing the network and skills needed to succeed in his chosen career path. During Victor’s time as a student at the University of Delaware, he served as a Legislative Fellow through the Institute for Public Administration (IPA), which provided his first experience working with elected officials. Later, while working at DSU, he partnered with IPA and DSU to include Delaware State University students in the Legislative Fellows program for the first time.

Victor currently lives in Bear with his wife, Krystal, who serves as the Director of Strategic Planning and Special Projects in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at UD, and their two sons, Victor and Christian.