Urusan Kolej, a $15 million grantmaking initiative of the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, seeks to increase college enrollment rates for Marion County high school seniors, especially for students less likely to enroll in college, including students from low-income households, Black students, and Hispanic and Latino students.

High school students face a variety of challenges when considering college, including accessing coursework that prepares them for college, identifying possible career options, and obtaining financial aid. For students without access to relevant support and resources, these challenges can turn into barriers that keep them from applying to and enrolling in college – furthering existing racial and socioeconomic disparities in education and worsening talent shortages in the Indy region.

To help remove some of these barriers and increase college enrollment, Urusan Kolej is awarding grants to Marion County public high schools and community organizations in two phases, Meeting the Moment and Reversing the Trend. The grantees in both phases will use the funding to support Indianapolis students and their families as they navigate the process of exploring, enrolling in and financing college.

¹ Indiana College Readiness Dashboard, ² Papan Pemuka Penyiapan FAFSA

Low college enrollment is a challenge to our economic vitality. Indianapolis employers continue to report difficulty finding talent with the education and skills needed to fill open positions. Fewer Marion County residents have college degrees than many of our peer cities, which puts us at a competitive disadvantage when trying to attract new businesses and better jobs.

For individuals, education beyond high school contributes to a higher annual income and improved financial stability. Further, increased educational attainment is associated with increased health, happiness, quality of life and civic engagement.

Melalui College Matters: Meeting the Moment, the Foundation awarded nearly $5 million in short-term grants to Marion County public schools, community organizations, and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education in September 2023. These grants provide support to students in two areas: completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) — now a requirement to graduate high school in Indiana — and exploring their college options.

To assist students and their families in meeting Indiana’s new FAFSA mandate during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, the Foundation awarded a total of $3.25 million in grants to 37 Marion County public high schools within 17 school corporations.*

To reach students and their families in places other than schools, four Marion County community organizations received grants totaling $1.35 million over three years to support students in exploring, enrolling in and financing college.

To fund convenings and facilitate the exchange of information between grantees and the State of Indiana, the Suruhanjaya Indiana untuk Pendidikan Tinggi received a three-year, $363,000 grant.

Melalui College Matters: Reversing the Trend, the Foundation will provide up to $9.7 million in competitive funding to Marion County public high schools for the implementation of strategies aimed at increasing college enrollment.

There are two steps in the application process. First, any eligible Marion County public high school is invited to apply for one of up to six $20,000 competitive short-term planning grants, which will provide them with resources to create a four-year plan for increasing college enrollment among their students. Second, the schools that received planning grants will be invited to submit proposals for competitive grants of up to $1.5 million each to support the implementation of their plan over a four-year period.

Only schools that received planning grants in the first step of the process are eligible to submit proposals for four-year implementation grants.

More information about this phase of Urusan Kolej can be found in the Request for Applications and Frequently Asked Questions documents linked below, including:

Request for Applications

Budget Template

Soalan Lazim

Below, you’ll find a variety of items used to inform the creation of the Urusan Kolej initiative, including data sources and relevant research. For more information on Urusan Kolej, hubungi kakitangan Yayasan di college@RMFF.org.