Opportunities often arise from external private and public sources to support teaching and learning initiatives for faculty and staff. These foundations and public agencies have within their mission and history support for higher education teaching development, student success, and general learning strategies. We encourage you to review these sites as you seek support for your campus projects related to teaching and learning. Many of these organizations are regularly adding new programs and initiatives that may match with your professional and/or your institution’s goals regarding teaching, learning, and student success. And, of course, we encourage you to take advantage of the many programs and funding supports the ACA furnishes to faculty and staff at member institutions.
Please note that while some of these funders furnish support directly to individuals, others may only provide funding to institutions.
Private Sources
The American Philosophical Society promotes useful knowledge in the sciences and humanities through excellence in scholarly research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and community outreach. The Society offers a number of grant and fellowship programs along with several awards and prizes.
The American Political Science Association furnishes a range of programs and services for individuals, departments, and institutions, operating a multitude of research, fellowship, and scholarship programs open to college and university political science departments, students, and professionals.
The American Psychological Foundation, established by the American Psychological Association, funds early career psychologists and graduate students using psychology to solve important problems and improve people’s lives. In addition to scholarship and fellowship programs, APF seeks to seed innovation by providing grants for projects and programs that use psychology to solve social problems. Types of support include early career funding, travel grants, and seed grants for research and for targeted programs.
The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations provide financial assistance to certain educational, cultural, scientific, and religious institutions within the United States, primarily private higher education (prioritizing undergraduate education and the liberal arts), emphasizing attention to civil discourse programs, purpose-oriented education, and religious literacy and interfaith leadership. The Foundations provide grants directly to private colleges and universities as well as to consortia that support those institutions in their educational mission.
Ascendium Education Group seeks to elevate opportunities and outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds so they can better achieve their post-secondary education and career goals. Ascendium invests in projects designed to increase the number of students from low-income backgrounds who complete post-secondary degrees, certificates, and workforce training programs, with an emphasis on first-generation students, incarcerated adults, rural community members, students of color, and veterans.
The Blackburn Foundation focuses on promoting higher education and community/international development. The Foundation provides grants to support projects in the following areas: post-secondary scholarship; community development; teacher creativity; and student academic achievement.
The Bringing Theory to Practice Project, in partnership with the Association of American Colleges and Universities, encourages colleges and universities to reaffirm their core purposes to advance learning and discovery, the well-being of the whole student, and their mission as a public good to deepen and sustain the civic society. It supports ongoing campus projects at institutions interested in taking steps toward realizing their missions for learning, well-being, and civic development of their students.
The Deloitte Foundation supports accounting, business, and related fields of study within the U.S. Its national programs benefit university students and faculty and promote excellence in teaching and research, curriculum innovation, and cooperation among practitioners and the academic community.
The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation’s mission is to advance the sciences of chemistry, chemical engineering, and related sciences as a means of improving human relations and circumstances, including support of young faculty accomplished in both research and teaching.
The Forum for Theological Exploration is dedicated to cultivating tomorrow’s leaders, pastors, and theological educators. FTE offers a number of grants and fellowships to young adults, students, and partner organizations in order to develop leadership in the face of complex shifts in the church, economy, and theological education.
The Fostering Liberal Arts Knowledge and Connections program aims to build faculty collaboration across disciplines and institutions with the goal of enriching teaching and research for faculties at liberal arts colleges and research universities.
The Hearst Foundations support, among its priorities, funding (including professional development for educators) for higher educational institutions demonstrating uncommon success in preparing students to thrive in a global society. In addition to supporting college access and success, the Foundations emphasize science education programs that focus on developing career pathways in science, technology, engineering, the environment, and mathematics.
The Lumina Foundation seeks to increase the proportion of Americans with high-quality college degrees, certificates, and credentials to 60 percent by 2025. The Foundation’s outcomes-based approach focuses on helping to design and build an equitable, accessible, responsive, and accountable higher education system while fostering a national sense of urgency to achieve this goal.
The mission of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) is to advance the understanding of mathematics and its impact on the world. MAA administers a variety of grant programs that provide funding to higher education institutions, teachers, and students to support activities that help advance the Association’s mission.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supports a wide range of initiatives to strengthen the humanities, arts, higher education, and cultural heritage, with emphases on inclusive humanities education, diverse learning environments, and critical thinking.
The MTNA Foundation Fund, established by the Music Teachers National Association, is committed to keeping America’s musical future alive by supporting programs that nurture the creation, performance, study, and teaching of music.
The National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) is the largest organization in the world committed to promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation focuses on the quality of scientific training and inquiry, the structure of scientific careers, the diversity of the scientific workforce, the strength of scientific educational institutions, and the openness and accessibility of scientific education and training to all. Please note that individuals are not eligible for these resources.
The Spencer Foundation is committed to supporting high-quality investigation of education through its research programs, and to strengthening and renewing the educational research community through fellowship and training programs and related activities designed to improve educational practice.
The Teagle Foundation seeks to support and strengthen liberal arts education and to serve as a catalyst for the improvement of teaching and learning in the arts and sciences while addressing issues of financial sustainability and accountability in higher education. Supported programs generally encourage collaboration among institutions, seeking to generate new knowledge on issues of importance to higher education. In recent years a primary focus has been on projects to assess learning outcomes and projects to encourage fresh thinking about teaching and learning in undergraduate education.
Public Sources
The Teaching with Primary Sources Program promotes the widespread, sustained and effective use of primary sources from the Library of Congress.
The Department of Education offers a broad range of competitive grants related to post secondary education – many of which related to issues of teaching and learning.
The National Science Foundation provides a wide array of grants to support research, institutional partnerships, and education and training programs in the sciences and engineering.
The National Science Foundation’s Division of Undergraduate Education programs are intended to strengthen STEM education at two- and four-year colleges and universities by improving curricula, instruction, laboratories, infrastructure, assessment, diversity of students and faculty, and collaborations.
The National Endowment for the Humanities supports research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.
The National Endowment for the Arts supports arts projects in communities nationwide through grant making, initiatives, partnerships, and events.
Grants.gov provides database for 26 federal agencies that furnish grant support (along with other research resources).
Please contact us if you know of other possible funding sources that emphasize teaching and learning in support of ACA-similar missions.
