Higher Education for Social Justice
Where We Work
The initiative works in the United States, Brazil, the Andean Region and Southern Cone, the Middle East and North Africa, Southern Africa and China.
What We Fund
In the United States, we make grants to promote postsecondary policy and system changes that improve the life chances of students from marginalized backgrounds, including immigrants.
We are particularly interested in local, state and federal reforms that enhance the college access and success of the most vulnerable students from cities such as Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, New York City, and Newark.
We support projects that advance a national educational justice agenda by focusing on:
- Greater college access and affordability
- High-quality academic and social support
- Smoother pathways between two- and four-year colleges
- Other policy and institutional innovations that expand opportunity and increase the likelihood of students completing degrees
We are particularly interested in funding projects that:
- Support research and communications to build the case for reform
- Identify, test and advance scalable approaches
- Foster a network of diverse advocates and activists for policy change
- Build the capacity of higher education institutions to implement and sustain reforms to achieve program goals
To Apply for a Grant
Follow these steps:
- Review the Initiative(s) most relevant to your work.
- Read our Grant Application Guide, which describes our grant-making process.
- If you determine that your work aligns with our priorities, submit a Grant Inquiry. (While we welcome submissions, please keep in mind that our funds are limited in relation to the large number of worthwhile inquiries we receive. In a typical year, less than 1 percent of unsolicited inquiries result in a grant.)
Please Note:
It is important that you use our grant inquiry form—and refrain from contacting program officers directly. Given the volume of inquiries we receive, this allows us to log, track and respond quickly to your application.
Fellowships
The vast majority of foundation grants go to organizations. We provide a very limited number of fellowship opportunities for individuals through the Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships Program, which aims to diversify the faculties of American colleges and universities.
The foundation does not have any other active fellowship opportunities at this time.
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