College Giving by Foundations Focuses on Helping Low-Income and First-Generation Students

Title: Philanthropy in Higher Education: Priorities and Approaches of Private Foundations

Organization: Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and the TIAA Institute

Summary: The three top priorities of private foundations that give to higher education include helping low-income and first-generation students get to college and achieve academic success, supporting career-readiness programs, and backing public institutions, especially community colleges.

Among the findings:

• 92 percent of foundations in the report support access and success efforts for low-income and first-generation students. Of that group, 78 percent said they support programs aimed at helping such students transition from high school to college, and 75 percent of the foundations that support access and success said they give to career-readiness and employability efforts.
• Grant making to community colleges is of particular interest to foundations focused on employability. Although as a portion of all giving to higher education, the amount awarded to community colleges is comparatively small — it accounts for 1.5 percent of the $43.6 billion raised by colleges and universities in 2017 — it has grown over the past decade. It climbed from $98 million in 2005 to more than $130 million in 2012.
• Rising support to community colleges reflects a trend that private foundations are increasingly giving to public institutions, more so than private, with 71 percent of foundations reporting that they give to public colleges and universities, compared with 49 percent that said they support private institutions.

To find out which public and private colleges and universities are receiving big gifts from individual donors, see the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s database of gifts of $1 million or more, which is updated weekly.

Maria Di Mento directs the annual Philanthropy 50 , a comprehensive report on America’s top donors. She writes about wealthy philanthropists, arts organizations, and key trends, among other topics. She recently wrote about a $125 million gift from hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin to a major science museum and a $100 million commitment from Nicole Shanahan for reproductive research and other causes. Email Maria or follow her on Twitter .