Aligning and Strengthening Urban Higher Education Ecosystems is a grant from The Kresge Foundation that funds cross-sector partnerships between colleges, universities, nonprofits, government agencies, school districts, employers, and social service providers to improve postsecondary attainment in urban areas.

The program supports collaboration that removes barriers to college access and completion, particularly for low-income and first-generation students in U.S. cities. Kresge invests in both direct program work and field-building to strengthen the broader urban higher education ecosystem. Eligible applicants include colleges, universities, nonprofits, and government agencies engaged in relevant cross-sector urban education partnerships.

Aligning and Strengthening Urban Higher Education Ecosystems - Kresge Foundation Our Story at 100 Promoting human progress since 1924, expanding equity and opportunity today Our Staff Our work is made possible by a staff of mission-driven professionals Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Central to how we operate and fund, we center DEI in all we do Careers Check for new openings and learn about working at The Kresge Foundation Board of Trustees Leaders who provide governance, expertise and support to our work Press Room Resources and information for commnunications professional American Cities Effective, inclusive community development in U.S. cities Arts & Culture Positioning culture and creativity as drivers of more just communities Detroit Expanding long-term, equitable opportunity in our hometown Education Addressing postsecondary attainment and closing equity gaps Environment Helping cities with equitable climate resilience strategies Health Building equity-focused systems of health to achieve well-being Human Services Increasing social-economic mobility for people with low incomes Social Investment Practice Unlocking capital for community development Strategic Learning, Research & Evaluation Building a culture of learning across the organization and support community learning priorities Initiatives Our time-bound funding programs can bring multiple Kresge teams together to co-create strategies Grants & Social Investments Grants Awarded A database of grants dating back to 2009 Social Investments Made A database of PRIs, guarantees and other investments How to Apply Details on eligibility, FAQs, Fluxx guidance and more For Current Grantees FAQs for partners, communicating about your work and more Aligning and Strengthening Urban Higher Education Ecosystems When educational institutions and urban systems collaborate to put students’ needs first, more students persist and succeed in college.

Students living with low incomes often attend college in urban areas and can be stymied by nonacademic or off-campus barriers to success. This focus area works to eliminate those barriers. The urban higher education ecosystem, or UHEE, consists of the many interconnected sectors and systems that together impact student outcomes.

These sectors and systems include: higher education, K-12 schools, businesses and employers, government agencies and departments, nonprofit social service providers, housing, food, child care, transit, health care, college access nonprofits, philanthropy and youth development, among others. We embrace a holistic, place-based approach to help strengthen these ecosystems by encouraging cross-sector partnerships.

Well-Functioning Ecosystems We seek to encourage colleges and universities to engage with other institutions, nonprofits, government agencies, school districts and employers to increase the number of students who earn a high-quality degree or credential. To advance this focus area, we support efforts with a systemic approach to strengthening cross-sector higher-education partnerships in cities.

We periodically invite applications for specific efforts through requests for proposals. We focus our work on three special geographic interest areas: The Kresge Foundation has three focus cities: Detroit, Memphis and New Orleans. The Education Program has four focus states: California, Florida, Michigan and Texas.

The Education Program also partners with educational institutions in South Africa. We advance this focus area through grantmaking and, at the same time, learn from our grantees to inform future investments. We are particularly interested in understanding how cities can use collective action to strengthen urban higher ecosystems and the specific strategies used to improve college access and completion.

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