College Matters, 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, College Matters 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 FAFSA Completion Dashboard

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.

Through 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 Indiana Commission for Higher Education received a three-year, $363,000 grant.

To make an even larger impact on the college enrollment rate, the Fairbanks Foundation announced College Matters: Reversing the Trend in December 2023. This phase of College Matters, which seeks to reverse the decline in college enrollment among Marion County high school students, launched a competitive grant process for Marion County public school corporations to apply for funding to implement strategies aimed at increasing college enrollment.

Through Reversing the Trend, the Fairbanks Foundation is awarding funding in two stages. The first stage, which opened Dec. 5, 2023, and closed Feb. 1, 2024, allowed public school corporations to apply for one of six planning grants to support the development of four-year plans to increase college enrollment. These plans will use proven or innovative strategies to increase college enrollment, with an emphasis on students who are less likely to enroll in college.

From a total of 20 applicants, six school corporations were chosen to receive $20,000 planning grants:

Each of the grantees will receive technical assistance from national research firm Mathematica as they select the appropriate interventions for their schools and develop an implementation plan.

In the second stage of the grant process, which will take place in late July 2024, the six school corporations that received the planning grants will be invited to submit proposals for additional grants of up to $1.5 million each that, if awarded, will support the implementation of their four-year plans. Each grantee can also use this grant money to plan for how they will sustain their work beyond the grant period.

Below, you’ll find a variety of items used to inform the creation of the College Matters initiative, including data sources and relevant research. For more information on College Matters, contact Foundation staff at college@RMFF.org.