Presidential Grant Program
Launched in 2015, the Presidential Grant Program supports college and university leaders in improving college affordability, containing costs, and bolstering institutional financial sustainability.
The program was conceived as a low-barrier entry point to the Davis Educational Foundation's institutional finance-focused objective. Grants of up to $25,000 are available for a range of activities, including awareness-building or exploration that broadly engages the campus community, pilot initiatives, or deeper investigations around collaborations or cost-containment strategies.
This program is exclusively focused on institutional cost, affordability, and financial sustainability. If you are looking to support teaching and learning initiatives, please visit our Implementation Grant program.
Parameters
- Grants support preliminary, exploratory, or pilot projects. Proposals for larger-scale implementation projects should be submitted through the Implementation Grant program.
- Projects should focus on ongoing practices.
- Projects should have a broad institutional focus or potential for measurable impact at the requesting institution.
- Request amounts may be up to $25,000.
- Grant terms may be up to one year.
- A letter of request from the college or university president is required; a detailed budget is not required.
What this program funds
Find a list of example projects here.
What this program does not fund
- Projects primarily focused on teaching and learning, curriculum development, or faculty development
- Direct payments to students, scholarships, or other support that may help individual students afford college but does not change institutional practices
- Endowments, internships, capital campaigns, or indirect/overhead expenses
- International travel
To Apply
To apply, email ([email protected]) a letter from the President of no more than two pages that includes a description of the project, its purpose and activities, and anticipated timeframe. Please include an explanation of the project’s role in improving college affordability, containing costs, and/or bolstering institutional financial sustainability on your campus. A detailed budget is not required.
Funding decisions are made on a rolling basis. You can expect to hear back from us, generally by letter, within a month.
Reporting
A final report in the form of a letter is required following the completion of the project (at most one year from the grant start date). The letter should describe how the funds were spent, what results were achieved, and lessons that might benefit other institutions. It can be emailed to the program officer or [email protected].