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The Kresge Foundation
Expanding opportunities in America’s cities

Education

We promote postsecondary access and success for low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students living in cities in the United States and South Africa.

Program Overview

We focus on expanding postsecondary access and success in cities for low-income, first generation and under-represented students, especially African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and veterans living in the United States. A parallel effort is underway in South Africa.

Our nation is facing a higher education crisis. Degree completion rates, while improving, are not rising fast enough to match global competitors or meet workforce needs. Students from low-income backgrounds graduate at lower rates than those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. States have reduced funding for public universities – in 11 states, corrections spending now outpaces higher education funding. Meanwhile, many students are collecting multiple and often non-transferable credits from different institutions without earning a credential or degree, costing them time and, society as a whole, money.

Meanwhile, the correlation between a postsecondary credential and wages is stronger than ever. By 2020, 60 percent of all jobs will require education beyond high school, making the economic well-being of cities directly connected to educational attainment.

We fund both the institutions that educate low-income and underrepresented students and the communities in which they live. We want to help increase the nation’s postsecondary attainment rate, advance mobility, address economic inequality and strengthen urban communities.

We are pleased to see communities taking action and building cross-sector partnerships to improve student success. New technologies present opportunities for colleges and universities to better understand why students struggle and how to target support to help them succeed and achieve their educational goals. Reform-minded institutions are finding ways to lower the cost of higher education while maintaining or enhancing quality.

We invest through these focus areas:

ALIGNING AND STRENGTHENING URBAN HIGHER EDUCATION ECOSYSTEMS

We use a holistic approach to strengthen local higher education ecosystems by encouraging cross-sector and networked partnerships. Partners may include: colleges and universities, nonprofit organizations, employers, K-12 school districts and government agencies, transportation systems, childcare organizations and others. These institutions and urban systems affect a student’s ability to persist and succeed in college. We want to see them coordinated and/or maximized for student success. This focus area was introduced in 2015.

BUILDING  THE CAPACITY OF INSTITUTIONS FOCUSED ON LOW-INCOME AND UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS

We seek to build the capacity of community colleges, public regional institutions and minority-serving and Title III and Title V schools. We want to help them lower the cost of education while maintaining or enhancing quality. Grants are designed to help institutions better meet the needs of underrepresented students through support for managerial, faculty and curricular effectiveness.

STRENGTHENING PATHWAYS TO AND THROUGH COLLEGE

Our primary goal in improving postsecondary access and success is to get more students – especially low-income, first generation, and underrepresented students – into two- and four-year colleges and universities and increase the number who graduate and find jobs.

We fund both on-campus innovations and off-campus determinants of student success. We look for opportunities that help low-income students better navigate the college-entry process and overcome barriers, so that they are able to stay in school and earn their desired degree or credential.

How We Work

The Education Program only accepts proposals at the invitation of Kresge staff.  

We invite proposals that support research, policy advocacy, evaluation, technology, partnerships, and direct services.

We invite projects that represent one or more of the following:

  • Partnerships or networks of institutions (not individual institutions).
  • Have potential for long-term sustainability.
  • Have potential for broad scalability or replicability.
  • Offer opportunities to reinforce change within our geographic focus states (California, Florida, Michigan, and Texas) and our work in South Africa, or in cities with emerging coalitions to promote student success.
  • Technological or practice enhancements that decrease costs for and improve effectiveness of institutions seeking to improve student success.
  • Work that has the potential to lead to systemic changes.

We do not fund:

  • Scholarships.
  • Programs at individual colleges or universities.
  • Capital projects.
  • Projects at organizations with budgets of less than $1 million a year.
  • Projects outside the United States or South Africa.

We occasionally invite applications for specific efforts through a request-for-proposal process. When available, grant opportunities are listed on the Education Program focus area pages, linked above, and on the Current Funding Opportunities page. 

Funding Process

We use a full array of funding and investment tools to foster change, including project grants, operating support, planning grants and program-related investments. Program-related investments may take the form of direct loans, guarantees that provide credit support to borrowers or linked deposits. (Learn more about our social investing.)

Most of our grants span 1-3 years. We also use resources to convene partners to learn and lead. And, in certain situations, when project proposals offer opportunities to advance the goals of multiple teams, those teams will jointly fund the proposal.

We seek potential partners and new funding opportunities through our involvement in meetings and conferences and with partner foundations, including:

You may stay in touch with us by subscribing to our weekly newsletter or by following @kresgefdn and/or @kresgedu on Twitter.

Education Program Team