Kresge Foundation: Advancing Student Transportation Solutions

The Kresge Foundation’s Education Program will support projects that address transportation barriers to student success. The following project types are available to organizations throughout the U.S.: implementation grants, research grants, and hybrid grants that qualify as both an implementation and research grant.

• Implementation Grants – Supporting Demonstration Projects of Student Transportation Solutions: Established transportation/higher education partnerships can apply for an implementation grant to launch or grow solutions that meet students’ transportation needs. Building on prior cross-sector planning efforts, implementation grants will support replication of existing solutions (e.g., discounted or free transit passes for college students) in new cities and/or implementation of more innovative approaches for meeting students’ transportation needs.
• Research Grants – Building the Evidence-base of Student Transportation Solutions: Very little evidence exists that shows the impact of transportation solutions on student enrollment, persistence, and/or completion. This type of grant can be in any U.S. or South African city and must include evaluations, using quasi-experimental or experimental designs, of existing solutions. Competitive applicants will propose a core evaluation that meets the What Works
  Clearinghouse’s standards (https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/Handbooks) and/or Laura and John Arnold Foundation’s standards for
  low-cost randomized controlled trials (http://coalition4evidence.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Rigorous-Program-Evaluations-on-a-Budget).

Note: Planning Grants are also available but limited to partnerships in Kresge priority geographies (New Orleans, Detroit, Memphis, and cities in California, Michigan, Florida, Texas, and South Africa).

Amount: A total of $1,300,000 is available to make up to five grants. The expected maximum planning grant is $50,000 for one year, and the expected maximum implementation or research grant is $375,000, disbursed over two or three years. The Foundation will consider other funding amounts and grant periods.

Eligibility: Partnerships between research organizations, transit agencies or mobility companies, higher education institutions, and/or other entities. The lead applicant must be a higher education institution, transit agency, or other public or nonprofit entity, and a qualifying partnership must include a higher education institution and at least one other community partner, ideally a transit agency or mobility company. Higher education institutions should meet all the following criteria:

• Be located in a city
• Have at least one-third of its student population comprised of low-income students (defined as Pell recipients) or students of color
• Have its student body significantly comprised of local students from the city in which the institution of higher education is located
• Have clear institutional goals to increase student graduation rates

Note: Preference will be given to applicants that are in Detroit, Memphis, or New Orleans or are in cities in South Africa or in the following states: California, Texas, Michigan, Florida. Planning grants are restricted to these places.

Link: https://kresge.org/library/advancing-student-transportation-solutions

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