The Hearst Foundations fund educational institutions demonstrating uncommon success in preparing students to thrive in a global society. The Foundations’ focus is largely on higher education, but they also fund innovative models of early childhood and K-12 education, as well as professional development.

Funding Priorities in Education

The Hearst Foundations are only able to fund approximately 25% of all grant requests, of which about 80% is directed to prior grantees and about 20% is targeted for new grantees.

In the recent past, 30% of total funding has been allocated to Education. Organizations with budgets over $10 million have received 80% of the funding in Education.

Types of Support:

• Program, scholarship, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

 

Preference will be given to:

• Higher education programs and scholarships and, on a limited basis, scholarships for post-graduate education
• College access and college success programming
• Professional development for educators
• Science education programs that focus on developing career pathways in science, technology, engineering, environment and math
• Programs educating the next generation of health professionals, such as nursing and mental health

 

Further information:

• Minimum grant size is $100,000. 
• If a grant request is unsuccessful, an organization must wait a minimum of one year from the date of declination before reapplying.
• Grantees must wait a minimum of three years from their grant award date before the Foundations will consider another request.
• For more information on our process, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) and the Grant Request Evaluation Process pages.