(Photo by Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages)
Community foundations represent the heart of local philanthropy in many regions and cities, supporting a broad range of needs and causes with generous grants. Most also manage large scholarship programs with funds from an assortment of donors, each with
their own scholarship criteria. These scholarships are popular with students, and many apply to their local community foundation each year in search of financial support for a college degree.
But do these donor-driven scholarship funds meet the needs of students? Do they advance equity in college attainment? In numerous instances, the answer to both questions is “no.” Scholarship funds housed at community foundations often have complex, merit-based
selection criteria and use evaluation methods that are exclusionary or do not recognize the countless barriers faced by first-generation students, students of color, and students from low-income backgrounds.
It is possible, however, for community foundations to make change and to design and implement need-based scholarship programs with student supports that meet strategic objectives and advance equity in regional college attainment. In a new NCAN article,
“
Advancing Equity in College Attainment: Strategically Designing Scholarship and Support Programs,” authors Colette Hadley and Liz Newman
have identified four basic approaches that community foundations can use to renovate their scholarship programs.
In the article, the authors outline a process for using data and inquiry that paves the way for change, highlighting three community foundations that have altered their scholarship programs to increase equitable outcomes. By disaggregating data to illuminate
disparities and using that data to ask questions, scholarship providers can identify opportunities for strategic program changes that advance equitable college attainment.
Colette Hadley is NCAN’s director of consulting services and previously served as executive director of the Scholarship Foundation of Santa Barbara. Liz Newman is senior community engagement associate at the John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their
Communities at Stanford University.
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