Charles Koch Foundation Postsecondary Education Grants

Overview

The Charles Koch Foundation supports research that spurs social progress, contributing to a society of mutual benefit. It supports research from individuals seeking innovative solutions.

Education should help people discover, develop, and deploy their unique aptitudes and gifts. However, millions of learners experience the opposite: a one-size-fits-all model that prizes exclusivity and standardization over meeting individual needs. Every person is unique and deserves a learning experience that empowers them to achieve success—however they define it. We are eager to partner with social entrepreneurs and organizations dedicated to providing experiences that put learners in charge of their journey and that foster a commitment to lifelong learning.

This transformational redesign will not be restricted to the classroom or campus. It will require a movement of educators, innovators, employers, philanthropists, parents, and others who are committed to helping learners of all ages discover, develop, and apply their talents.

We are particularly interested in fostering innovations that:

• Put learners in charge of their own educational journey;
• Increase access to a diverse array of learning opportunities and promote a lifelong learning mindset;
• Provide upskilling opportunities, particularly through alternative programs like certification, modern apprenticeships, and skilled trades;
• Incentivize competency-based learning;
• Develop the tools necessary to evaluate quality based on the outcomes desired by the individual, such as readiness and personal fulfillment

But that’s not all. We are open to hearing new ideas and investigating new solutions. If you want to turn around statistics like the ones listed above, and have an idea to do so, reach out to us to have a conversation.

Other funded focus areas include:
Criminal Justice, Economic Opportunity, Foreign Policy, Free Speech & Peace, Health Care, Immigration, Principled Entrepreneurship, Science of Liberty, and Technology & Innovation.

Among other items, the Foundation is not able to support:

• Percentage-based overheard costs - Overhead includes, but is not limited to, insufficiently specified and/or insufficiently detailed overhead costs (e.g., a requirement that a fixed percentage of a grant amount be dedicated to grant administration) and fringe benefits.
• Applied Research and Development
• Community development
• Infrastructure
• Cultural exchange programs
• Economic development
• Medical treatment