College Access Funders
Learn about grants for college readiness by browsing our curated list of top college readiness funders below. Members can also research funding opportunities using the search tool for GrantFinder. Become a member.
Funding trends in college access
A substantial share of philanthropy for higher education supports expanding students’ access to college. In its latest survey of charitable giving for U.S. higher education, CASE found that almost half of all endowed gifts for higher education in 2023-2024 were directed toward student financial aid for students who might not otherwise be able to access higher education. Indeed, giving for college access and completion has become a major priority of higher education funders in recent years.
Just 36.4% of the American labor force have a degree and are earning at least 15% more than the national median salary of a high school graduate, reports the Lumina Foundation, a leading grantmaker in this philanthropic space. Minority students, low-income students, and first-generation students are underrepresented in higher education, which has substantial impacts on their lifetime earnings – not to mention the many other benefits of higher education for individuals and society.
A big part of the access problem is cost. College is simply not affordable for many Americans. After adjusting for inflation, college tuition has increased 197.4% since 1963, according to the Education Data Initiative.
Collectively, Americans owe about $1.6 trillion in student loans, and one in four U.S. adults under 40 had student loan debt in 2024 (Pew Research Center). Even if a student manages to get to college and cover tuition, the cost of essential items like textbooks and housing can be prohibitively expensive. And with inflation and housing insecurity, more students are food and housing insecure. Philanthropy for college access tries to address all of this.
A 2024 report by the TIAA Institute found that in the two decades from 2003 to 2021, philanthropy for student financial aid grew at a faster rate than overall philanthropy. In 2022, 19.5% of philanthropy for higher education went to student financial aid, the institute reported.
In addition to private foundation grantmaking for college access, scholarship funds are common at most community foundations.
A related area of grantmaking is college completion – making sure that once they get into college, students have the resources and support to successfully complete their degrees. Many funders in this space make grants for both college access and college success and completion.
The funder group Grantmakers for Education tracks trends in education philanthropy and shares helpful information with funders, such as how changes in government policy might affect philanthropy.
Where are college access grants going?
Scholarships are a top form of grants and donations to support college access. Major donors endow scholarship funds at their alma maters or for underrepresented communities they want to see succeed in college. Foundations make grants for scholarships as well as for nonprofits offering services to students, such as college-prepatory programs focused on high school students in communities with low rates of college attendance.
Grants are also made for wraparound services to support students’ needs to complete college. For example, major funders including Arnold Ventures and the Hewlett and Gates foundations have backed an initiative to provide free digital textbooks, IP’s Martha Ramirez recently reported.
Some funders make grants to nonprofits engaging in policy advocacy, for example to ensure quality K-12 education is available to all students to prepare them for college or advocacy to make higher education affordable.
While the bulk of philanthropy for higher education goes to large private colleges and universities, HBCUs and community colleges – where historically underrepresented students are centered and supported – are receiving more and more philanthropic support in recent years. There have also been a few recent high-profile major gifts to make medical school tuition free, as IP has previously reported.
College success and completion grants support things like student mental health services, support for first-generation college students, college counseling, mentorship and career coaching, and ongoing coverage of tuition and other expenses, including funding for low-income students to meet basic needs such as housing and food while in school. Support for child care and healthcare can also be critical for some students to complete college.
Gaps in Funding for College Access
Philanthropy for college access exists to address educational disparities and expand access to higher learning for historically underrepresented and under-resourced students. In a sense, then, this philanthropic space is all about gaps in education funding, which are especially pronounced when it comes to Black, Latinx, and other minoritized students; low-income students; first-generation college students; and students from rural and urban school districts with low college attendance rates.
Government financial aid programs such as Pell grants for students with financial need have attempted to address some of these disparities, but philanthropy has always had a role to play in filling gaps. Now, with changes to federal student aid programs and potentially increased taxes on college endowments under the second Trump administration, the gaps for philanthropy to fill will only grow larger. IP’s ongoing coverage of education philanthropy will highlight major gifts and new funder initiatives to support college access and completion.
The funder group Grantmakers for Education tracks trends in education philanthropy and shares helpful information with funders, such as how changes in government policy might affect philanthropy.
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