USA Funds
Indianapolis
www.usafunds.org
Grants Announced: September 2013
USA Funds, based in Indianapolis, has recently announced 2 major grant initiatives to increase postsecondary education opportunities. The grants were announced this fall and included organizations around the nation.
The first group of grants were awarded to 81 organizations and totaled $4.1 million. The grants support programs that promote readiness for, as well as enrollment and success in postsecondary education, especially for low-income and first-generation students, students of color, foster youth and adult learners.
The following organizations have been awarded grants of $50,000 or more:
Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, Washington, D.C., three grants totaling $400,000 to provide need-based scholarships to Asian and Pacific Islander students; support research designed to improve student outcomes and institutional capacity building; and support its annual fundraising event.
American Indian College Fund, Denver, three grants totaling $310,000 to provide need-based scholarships to tribal college students; assist the organization with a marketing plan to help it achieve its fundraising goals; and support its Flame of Hope fundraising event.
Complete College America, Washington, D.C., $250,000 to provide technical assistance to states and institutions on postsecondary education policy, and on strategies for systemic change to increase student persistence and degree completion in more than 30 states.
Thurgood Marshall College Fund, New York, two grants totaling $250,000 to provide need-based scholarships to students attending public Historically Black Colleges and Universities; prepare students for transition to careers by exposing them to business professionals, networking, internships and employment opportunities; and support a fundraising event to increase the donor base.
United Negro College Fund, Indianapolis, $250,000 to increase parents’ and students’ awareness of UNCF; cultivate donors; and encourage alumni to provide support in tutoring, mentoring and fundraising.
Paul Quinn College, Dallas, $121,700 to enhance financial literacy, financial aid information, default prevention and other activities that will reduce the college’s cohort default rate and increase external scholarship support.
Central Indiana Community Foundation, Indianapolis, $100,000 to assist in raising scholarship dollars for Latino students graduating from Indiana schools.
City Year, Seattle, $100,000 to address the dropout problem in Seattle’s public schools.
Indiana Latino Institute, Indianapolis, $100,000 to provide Latino students and their parents a set of comprehensive programs and services that will increase and retain the number of Latino youth enrolling in postsecondary education programs and graduating with postsecondary degrees.
Truckee Meadows Community College, Reno, Nev., $100,000 to supplement the college’s financial literacy efforts through a peer mentoring program and other outreach strategies for students.
U.S. Dream Academy, Columbia, Md., $100,000 to help raise funds to mentor and tutor children of incarcerated parents.
University of Nevada, Reno Foundation, Reno, Nev., $100,000 to provide mentoring and tutoring during the school year and assist middle and high school students in setting short- and long-term goals leading to high school graduation and college enrollment.
College Success Foundation, Seattle, $99,880 to place advisers on college campuses across Washington State to help new students successfully adapt to the college culture, promote academic and social success, and increase on-time college completion rates for underserved populations.
Murray State College, Tishomingo, Okla., $95,000 to provide financial literacy training, peer mentoring and follow-up services for low-income students and students at risk of dropping out, to enhance retention, student loan default prevention and loan default rate reduction efforts.
Claflin University, Orangeburg, S.C., $81,000 to teach financial literacy and promote student success, persistence and degree completion.
St. Vincent Foundation, Indianapolis, $72,300 to support a full-time teacher at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent.
Riley Children’s Foundation, Indianapolis, $72,000 to offer patients of the Riley Hospital for Children School Program the resources they need to continue their academic work.
Arizona Community Foundation, Phoenix, $60,000 to help prospective college students enroll in postsecondary education and provide financial assistance to current college students.
University of Hawaii Maui College, Kahului, Hawaii, $51,574 to enhance student loan exit counseling, improve contact with student loan borrowers, and reduce the number of students on academic probation.
ACCESS College Foundation, Norfolk, Va., $50,000 to support enhanced college retention and graduation rates at four Virginia postsecondary institutions through a program offering one-on-one and group counseling sessions.
Alliance for Education, Seattle, $50,000 to mobilize partners toward achieving goals related to completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
Arizona College Scholarship Program, Phoenix, $50,000 to deliver college completion assistance services to program participants.
Be A Leader Foundation, Phoenix, $50,000 to provide college preparatory assistance for disadvantaged elementary, high school and college-bound students.
Christian Activity Center, East St. Louis, Ill., $50,000 to provide college access and success information and resources for students from sixth grade through their second year in college.
College Bound, St. Louis, $50,000 to support College Bound’s “Complete U” program, which provides support to students from their senior year of high school and continues through postsecondary education completion.
College Forward, Austin, Texas, $50,000 to support college completion assistance targeting motivated, underserved students.
College Summit, Washington, D.C., $50,000 to identify college-bound students in middle school and support them through college.
Excelencia in Education, Washington, D.C., $50,000 to recognize, at an event at the U.S. Capitol, select campus-based programs that facilitate Latino-student success and degree completion, and sponsor a one-day meeting that disseminates information about effective programs.
Girls Inc. of Greater Indianapolis, Indianapolis, $50,000 to sponsor a math and science program that gives girls opportunities to explore, ask questions and solve problems in a girl-focused setting.
I Have a Dream Foundation, Portland, Ore., $50,000 to support the work of a college readiness coordinator, who conducts advising sessions, hosts events, and connects students to the college resources and support services that promote college completion.
Indiana Connected By 25, Indianapolis, $50,000 to provide guidance on postsecondary education and training options for foster care youth, to connect them to an integrated support system by age 25.
Indiana Youth Institute, Indianapolis, $50,000 to assist Twenty-first Century Scholars with mentoring support to promote college success.
Marian University, Indianapolis, $50,000 to support the persistence and degree completion of 21st Century Scholars at Marian University.
YMCA of Greater Indianapolis–Urban Mission Branch, Indianapolis, $50,000 to prepare Central Indiana high school students for postsecondary education success.
The second group of organizations receiving grants are part of USA Fund’s, Key Transitions in Postsecondary Education initiative. Three organizations were chosen out of 249 to receive grants, totaling more than $1.6 million. The initiative focuses on organizations that work to increase the number of college degrees for low-income and first-generation students as well as adult learners.
The following grants have been awarded:
Bright Prospect, Pomona, Calif., $600,000 to increase the number of high school students it serves, and maintain a success rate of more than 90 percent of its program participants persisting in and completing college. Serving seven high schools in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties in California, Bright Prospect provides a comprehensive counseling and peer support system through students’ high school and college years. The organization serves 1,700 students and expects to serve 2,800 students by 2018.
College Track, Oakland, Calif., $600,000 to expand advising and mentoring support for college students as part of its college success program. College Track operates college access centers that provide after-school programming to students in East Palo Alto, Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, Calif.; New Orleans; and Aurora, Colo. During the next three years, College Track expects the number of students it serves to grow to 2,400 from the nearly 1,400 that it currently serves.
On Point for College, Syracuse, N.Y., $449,089 to increase by 1,500 the number of students it serves during the next three years and expand the range of services it offers incoming freshmen. The organization provides college access and success services — including a team of mobile advising staff who visit community centers in Syracuse and Utica, N.Y., and remedial education programs — to assist inner city, first-generation students as well as adult learners.
For more information on USA Funds, Click here.
