Grant Activity - Greater Texas Foundation

$17.2 million
in grants made in 2021

View grants by topic

Student Supports
Transfer, Transition, and Advising
Rural Collaborations

Math for Success
Innovation
Student Financial Aid

Other Investments
GTF Educational Matching Grant Program

Student Supports

8th Annual Texas MALES Leadership Summit
$5,000

To support the student-focused track of the 8th Annual Texas MALES Leadership Summit at The University of Texas at Austin. (The University of Texas at Austin)

A Tiered Approach to Student Engagement and Retention Through Undergraduate Research
$289,742

To support the Honors College and the Center for Student Success at Texas A&M University-Kingsville to increase student engagement and retention of undergraduates by building a stronger culture of student support on campus through faculty and peer mentorship, as well as through expanded opportunities for undergraduate research. (Texas A&M University-Kingsville)

Caring Campus Texas
$597,754

To support the implementation of Caring Campus at community colleges in Texas to increase students’ sense of connectedness and sense of belonging to the college, which research has shown increases retention, persistence, and completion. (Institute for Evidence-Based Change)

CROWN & PATH Program
$249,085

To support the Creating & Reclaiming Opportunities for Women Nationally (CROWN) & Personal Achievement Through Help (PATH) programs designed to assist in building the foundations for academic and personal success for women and men of color at Texas A&M University-Texarkana. (Texas A&M University-Texarkana)

Enriching the Support Model behind Postsecondary Data Partnership in Texas
$428,794

To support the adoption and scale necessary for the Postsecondary Data Partnership platform for two- and four-year institutions in Texas to help them with their student success, enrollment patterns, transfer populations, and other necessary interventions. (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center)

Investigating the Effectiveness of Learning Frameworks Courses at Supporting Student Success in Texas Public Community Colleges
$315,837

To investigate the effects of learning frameworks courses on student academic achievement, persistence, and college completion outcomes over a 3-year period for the 2016—2017 cohort of students enrolled in Texas public community colleges. (Texas State University)

Latino Student Success Funders Group 2021-2022
$5,000

To support personnel and meeting logistics for the LSS (LSS) Funders Group, which brings together funders interested in supporting the success of Latino students. (Excelencia in Education, Inc.)

Part-time College Students in Texas: Characterizing Enrollment Patterns, Understanding the Issues they Face, and Identifying Promising Approaches to Promote Their Success
$299,274

To support an interdisciplinary and mixed-methods study that will accurately characterize the enrollment patterns of part-time students and deepen our understanding of the milieu in which they are immersed to support the design of policies that meet part-time students where they are and increase their chances of obtaining academic success. (The University of Texas at Dallas)

Scaling Up Meta-Majors, Living Learning Communities, and Success Teams to Promote Student Success
$691,158

To support the implementation of meta-majors and scale up current student support components at Tarleton State University that have demonstrated positive results regarding student success at the institution and within higher education. (Tarleton State University)

Understanding the Work-Based Learning Landscape for Women and Mothers in Texas
$200,000

To support research that will outline the apprenticeship program landscape in Texas, including analyzing the demographic, sectoral, and gender profile of Texas programs, highlighting potential barriers to work-based learning or apprenticeship program participation in Texas, and identifying promising strategies to expand and brand apprenticeships to women and student parents. (Young Invincibles)

Transfer, Transition, and Advising

2021 NPSI Conference - Equity at the Practice Level
$5,000

To support the National Postsecondary Strategy Institute’s annual conference, which provides participants with practical steps in strengthening their strategies around college access and careers given each school district’s context. (National Postsecondary Strategy Institute)

Aspen Opportunity Youth – Austin
$450,000

To support the OYF community in Austin / Travis County, Texas to deepen the impact of their Opportunity Youth (OY) reconnection strategy and improve education and postsecondary education outcomes for youth and young adults of color in Austin, Texas. (The Aspen Institute, Inc.)

Back on Track in Texas: Cohort II Follow-up
$410,000

To support JFF in solidifying practices and partnerships in five re-engagement schools and programs so that young people who are disengaged from high school not only graduate college-ready but make seamless transitions to postsecondary education and training. (Jobs for the Future, Inc.)

Dallas County Promise Champions Initiative
$130,000

To support the Champions Initiative within Dallas County Promise participating high schools and neighboring school districts which provides rising seniors with mentors to support their college persistence endeavors. (Big Thought)

Dual Credit For All
$200,000

To support the Dual Credit For All project between Lone Star College-North Harris, Aldine ISD, and Spring ISD which will provide scholarships to economically disadvantaged students for dual credit CTE programs and measure the impact this has on increasing enrollment, persistence, and graduation rates. (North Harris Montgomery Community College District Foundation)

Equipping Institutions to Build Competency-Based Programs and Pathways to Drive Equitable Outcomes
$548,106

To support a select group of Texas institutions for CBE design using group-based and individualized technical assistance and supports. Participating institutions will be able to build, launch, and track learner outcomes from properly designed CBE programs and, in turn, prove the effectiveness of CBE models for providing affordable, clear, and efficient credential attainment pathways for students. (Competency-Based Education Network)

Future-Focused Texas Year II
$275,000

To support a second year of programming to help ensure as many high school seniors and recently matriculated college students in Texas have the information, guidance, and support they need to matriculate into college at rates complementary to pre-COVID numbers. (The Get Schooled Foundation)

GTF TAMU Advising Corps 4.0
$540,000

To support the GTF TAMU Advising Corps which places recent Texas A&M graduates at two Bryan ISD high schools and two College Station ISD high schools to serve as college advisers. (Texas A&M University)

Harnessing Course Sharing to Support Texas Pathways at Scale
$645,405

To support a collaboration between the Digital Higher Education Consortium of Texas and Acadeum to assist colleges across Texas, through inter-institutional course sharing, in solving the problems of persistence, on-time completion, and access to courses to assist in fulfilling guided pathways. (Austin Community College District)

Healthcare and Information Technology Postsecondary Career Pathways
$80,592

To support South Texas College’s Healthcare and Information Technology Postsecondary Career Pathways project, which will serve individuals without secondary credentials in postsecondary career pathways with multiple entry/exit points and stackable credentials (South Texas College)

Pathways To and Through College & Careers Through Student-Centered Advising
$277,722

To support the development of an embedded, four-year advising model that engages the entire school community, industry mentors, and external partners in a holistic approach that begins with intentional purpose planning in the 9th grade and offers guided college and career activities with reflection for each year of high school. (Center for Applied Science & Technology Network (CAST))

Rural Learning Track at 2021 National (Virtual) Conference
$30,000

To sponsor the rural track at NCAN’s 2021 virtual conference to help ensure conference participants from rural areas have content tailored to their needs. (National College Attainment Network)

The Texas College Access Network
$30,000

To support the next phase of TxCAN’s work, as TxCAN moves from coalition building to collective action around promising college access practices for impact and scale. (Communities Foundation of Texas)

Rural Collaborations

Alliance for College and Career Student Success in South Central Texas (ACCSS)
$842,780

To support ACCSS in South Central Texas to increase completion of High School Dual Credit classes and to create a seamless transition to postsecondary. The ACCSS partnership is comprised of Columbus I.S.D., Fayetteville I.S.D., Flatonia I.S.D., Schulenburg I.S.D., and Weimar I.S.D., and Blinn College at Schulenburg. (Blinn College)

CCMR Rural Accelerator Program
$250,000

The Rural CCMR Accelerator Program is a collaborative effort between the Texas Impact Network, MAYA Consulting, ContigoEd, and the RootEd Alliance to support an initial cohort of 20 rural districts to increase CCMR outcomes thereby allowing them to draw down on additional CCMR bonus funds to sustain or expand successful programming. (The Commit Partnership)

Collegiate Edu-Nation’s Rural Post-Secondary Acceleration and Scaling Project
$1,203,182

To support increased attainment of postsecondary outcomes for rural students across the state of Texas by providing resources for the expansion of the Collegiate Edu-Nation P-20 System model throughout Texas. (Collegiate Edu-Nation)

2021 Brazos Valley Gives – Matching Funds for Participating ISD Education Foundations
$30,000

To support education foundations from six Brazos Valley Independent School Districts participating in the 3rd Annual Brazos Valley Gives Day: College Station I.S.D., Bryan I.S.D., Caldwell I.S.D., Brenham I.S.D., Burton I.S.D., and Navasota I.S.D. (Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley)

CCMR Strategic Planning in the Permian Basin
$174,500

The CCMR Strategic Planning in the Permian Basin project is a collaborative effort with the Education Partnership of the Permian Basin, Educate Midland, the four participating districts, and the Texas Impact Network aimed to increase student CCMR outcomes and increase the CCMR bonus dollars these districts receive. (The Commit Partnership)

Creating a Data Ecosystem for Student Success from High School to Postsecondary
$181,695

To support Amarillo College and Amarillo I.S.D. (Caprock High School) in creating data pipelines and data-use ecosystems necessary to build and maintain seamless pathways from students’ high school freshman year, through high school graduation, and into a postsecondary institution to ensure college degree/credential attainment. (Amarillo Junior College District)

Rural College Promise in a Box (PIB)
$3,047,675

To develop repeatable, affordable, and scalable Promise models at North Central Texas College, Grayson College, and Tyler Junior College based on the success of the Dallas County Promise, Alamo Promise, and other Texas Promise initiatives. (Commit!2Dallas)

Math for Success

Addressing Misalignment at Critical Transition Points in Texas Education
$487,068

To support the Dana Center’s efforts to increase the number of Black and Latinx students and students from low-income families who have the mathematics preparation necessary to successfully transition from high school into postsecondary programs that lead to highwage, high-demand jobs in the Texas economy. (The University of Texas at Austin)

Teach to One and Math Innovation in Texas
$240,000

To support individualized math learning for 1,650 students in Dallas and Fort Worth for two academic years through the launch of a partnership between New Classrooms and the Uplift Education network, where four schools will implement the innovative math solutions, Teach to One 360 and Teach to One Roadmaps Plus. (New Classrooms Innovation Partners, Inc.)

Training Math Teachers to Pursue Equity
$400,000

To support Teach for America’s investment to evolve and optimize their math teacher training and support program centrally and across regions to further their joint goal of increasing the number of Texas students experiencing mathematics pathways that allow them to successfully prepare for and complete a postsecondary credential. (Teach For America, Inc.)

UTeach STEM Educators Virtual Conference 2021
$10,000

To support the UTeach STEM Educators Virtual Conference 2021, which brings together a community of over 600 faculty, alumni, students, and education and industry stakeholders for two days of professional learning focused on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in STEM Education. (The University of Texas at Austin)

Innovation

Career Accelerator Pilot Program
$309,126

To support the Career Accelerator pilot program which provides skills training and postsecondary credentialing for young adults who might otherwise become disconnected from both education and employment, while simultaneously filling a need for companies seeking skilled workers to fill well-paying jobs in IT. (Genesys Works Houston)

Student Financial Aid

Blinn College Foundation Emergency Fund: Continuing to Meet the Needs of Hardworking Students
$15,000

To support students seeking a postsecondary degree or certification by continuing the operations of Blinn College’s emergency fund. (Blinn College Foundation, Inc.)

Dr. Diana Natalicio Endowment
$25,000

To support the Dr. Diana Natalicio Endowment in honor of her vision for higher education for all. (El Paso Community College Foundation)

Emergency Aid Roadmap Program
$1,225,000

To provide emergency aid funding for students combined with technical assistance provided by Reos Partners to establish or improve emergency aid programs at community colleges with 10,000 students or less. Participating institutions include:

College of the Mainland
Galveston College
Lee College
McLennan Community College
North Central Texas College
Northeast Texas Community College
Panola College
Texas Southmost College
Vernon College
Victoria Collegeto establish or improve emergency aid programs at community colleges with 10,000 students or less

Greater Texas Foundation Aggie Scholars 2.0
$262,000

To add an additional cohort to the GTF Scholars program, which aims to increase the number of Texas early college high school (ECHS) graduates who successfully transition to a four-year institution of higher education and complete a baccalaureate degree. (Texas A&M University)

The Diana Natalicio Institute for Hispanic-Student Success
$75,000

To support student scholarships at an institution that is an established national model for Hispanic student success. (The University of Texas at El Paso)

UTRGV Greater Texas Foundation Scholars Program
$270,000

Other Investments

2021 Texas Higher Education Leadership Conference
$5,000

To support THECB’s 2021 Leadership Conference which provides training for higher education leaders, as well as the annual State of Higher Education Address. The program highlighted key issues facing higher education, students, employer initiatives underway at the Coordinating Board and across Texas institutions, as well as opportunities for connecting with higher education stakeholders from across the state. (Texas Higher Education Foundation)

2021 Membership
$15,000

The Council on Foundations fosters an environment where philanthropy can thrive and cultivates a community of diverse and skilled philanthropic professionals and organizations who lead with integrity, serve as ethical stewards, and advocate for progress. This grant supports the foundation’s 2021 membership. (Council on Foundations, Inc.)

2021 Membership
$3,700

Grantmakers for Education (GFE) is the nation’s largest and most diverse network of education grantmakers dedicated to improving educational outcomes and increasing opportunities for all learners. This grant supports the foundation’s 2021 membership. (Grantmakers for Education)

UTEP Book Project
$5,000

To support the production of a book focused on the story of The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) as a national model of a student success focused institution under the leadership of Dr. Diana Natalicio. (Excelencia in Education, Inc.)

Texas Tribune Rural Support
$10,000

To support the Texas Tribune’s coverage of issues affecting rural Texas and statewide engagement activities in several areas. (Texas Tribune, Inc.)

2021 Membership
$7,390

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) is a community of funders committed to transforming philanthropic culture and practice by connecting members to the resources and relationships needed to support thriving nonprofits and communities. This grant supports the foundation’s 2021 membership. (Grantmakers for Effective Organizations)

2022 Membership
$2,250

PEAK Grantmaking is a member-led community of philanthropy professionals dedicated to advancing effective grantmaking practices. This grant supports the foundation’s 2022 membership. (PEAK Grantmaking, Inc.)

GTF Educational Matching Grant Program

GTF Educational Matching Grant Program 2021
$102,900

This program is meant to encourage giving by Greater Texas Foundation officers, board members, external committee members, managers, and employees to educational institutions or organizations supporting education through scholarships or programs related to any of the foundation’s strategic goals.

The foundation will match contributions up to $5,000 on a 3:1 basis.

Baylor University
Blinn College Foundation, Inc.
Collin County Community College District Foundation
Howard Payne University
Prairie View A&M University
Southwestern University
St. Edward’s University
Stephen F. Austin State University (2)
Texas A&M Foundation
Texas State University Development Foundation
The Texas A&M University Commerce Foundation (2)
The University of Texas at Austin
Tyler Junior College Foundation

PHONE 979 779 6100 EMAIL CONTACT

In 2020,

Greater Texas Foundation’s board of directors approved 58 grants for a total of $12,148,778 in new funding to improve postsecondary outcomes for Texas students.

$12 Million in Grants in 2020

A Home Base for Transitioning Foster Youth: $10,000

To support approximately six former foster youth, ages 18-25, pursuing a high school equivalency credential or baccalaureate degree by assisting with the cost of childcare, transportation, books, testing fees and technology.

Achieving the Dream: $80,000

To support the participation of two Texas colleges in Achieving the Dream's Racial Equity Leadership Academy conducted by the USC Center for Race and Equity.

Austin Partners in Education: $450,000

To support the design of a comprehensive, evidence-based program model that provides an operational framework detailing the resources, systems, processes, and procedures for the successful execution of Career Launch/P-TECH programs.

Big Thought: $50,000

To support Big Thought in their role of lead convener for the mentoring piece of the Dallas Promise Champions program to help bridge students to success while they are enrolled at one of the Promise high schools.

Blinn College Foundation, Inc.: $15,000

To support Blinn College’s Emergency Aid Program to provide students experiencing financial crises with access to emergency aid grants.

Combined Arms: $45,900

To support the effective development and deployment of a technology solution that will help rural veterans in Texas gain admission to postsecondary opportunities.

Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley: $25,000

To support five education foundations participating in Brazos Valley Gives with matching funds by providing a 2:1 match for the first $2,500 each district raises, for a total of $5,000 per district.

E3 Alliance: $909,195

To support the Pathways of Promise 4.0 Initiative (PoP 4.0) which aims to redouble and expand efforts to provide equitable access to accelerated math courses for Black, Hispanic, and low-income students, while also delivering supports to educators and parents, which will lead to higher quality and more equitable instruction and increased access to advanced math courses.

EMERGE Fellowship: $300,000

To support the efforts of EMERGE’s college success team to build strategic partnerships with select Texas colleges and universities that will lead to increased access and opportunity for high-performing students from Houston’s underserved communities.

Excelencia in Education, Inc.: $5,000

To support the 2020 ALASS Institute, an annual meeting of professionals focused on improving education outcomes for Latinx students.

Foundation Communities: $300,000

To support Foundation Communities' transfer, transition, and advising programs throughout Austin and the Central Texas region.

Get Schooled Foundation: $375,000

To support a multi-platform, all-digital statewide communications and support campaign that will encourage recent high school graduates, plus incoming juniors and seniors in Texas’s high schools – students of color, first-generation youth and those from low-income families – to persist on their path to college.

Huston-Tillotson University: $247,250

To support MBK Scholars’ work with Pflugerville ISD to create a peer-to-peer mentorship system to improve postsecondary attainment rates for young men of color and with Elgin ISD to build an actionable data system that will track postsecondary success of students after graduation.

Marion County Diversified Civic Social Concern Organization: $2,500

To support the Fred Bonner Scholarship at Jefferson High School in recognition of Dr. Fred Bonner’s role as a mentor for the GTF Fellows program.

National College Access Network, Inc.: $30,000

To support the rural learning track at the 2020 National College Access Network national conference. This learning track includes sessions focused on rural issues and increased focus on this area.

Northeast Texas Community College Foundation, Inc.: $470,000

To support the expansion of the Work4College Program that allows students the opportunity to attend college at NTCC without acquiring debt and provides a hands-on learning experience in a meaningful work area allowing students to earn while they learn.

Region 5 Education Service Center: $199,132

To support the Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) program which provides comprehensive services to young adults who have been placed in at-risk situations in their lives that will result in their completing requirements for a high school diploma (or a GED), securing a quality entry-level job, and/or pursuing a postsecondary education that leads to advancement in their chosen career field.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: $179,167

To support activities that create stackable credentialing pathways that adequately count military training towards the attainment of non-degree and degree credentials with high-quality providers for service members and veterans.

Sam Houston State University: $349,979

To support a research study that will inform advising practice during and after the COVID-19 pandemic by collecting and analyzing data drawn from institutional and programmatic academic advisers at public and private institutions throughout Texas.

Sam Houston State University: $251,139

To support: (1) the ELITE program at Sam Houston State University, developed in 2010 to best serve the academic needs of minority male students with a foundation of peer mentoring and regular, sustained small group support; and (2) evolve, a sister program to ELITE to benefit female students who either transfer from a regional 2-year college or are the first in their family to attend college.

Temple College: $620,107

To support Temple College in establishing a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Middle College in Taylor, Texas, to serve the eight rural school districts that surround Taylor in eastern Williamson and Milam counties.

Texas A&M University: $729,156

To support Brazos Valley Teach to ensure high school students in the Brazos Valley have the necessary academic resources to complete a CTE Public Service Endorsement in the Education and Training cluster with dual credit coursework opportunities.

Texas A&M University-Commerce Foundation: $783,524

To support an increase in the number of underserved, adult learners completing a bachelor’s degree through competency-based education and integrated academic success teams at Texas A&M Commerce.

Texas Higher Education Foundation: $700,000

To support colleges and universities in either providing emergency financial aid to help students address basic needs created by unexpected college closures and other COVID-19 pandemic related disruptions or support institutions in creating or improving the necessary infrastructure and capacity to optimize emergency aid funds.

Texas Higher Education Foundation: $150,000

To support the development of an actionable and transformative strategic plan for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board which will enable the agency to achieve greater efficacy through collaboration and partnership to realize Texas’ bold goal for 60% of young adult Texans to hold postsecondary credentials by 2030.

Texas State University: $74,740

To support research that will inform higher education administrators about the adequacy of campus supports for foster care alumni and will identify best-practices for improving higher education outcomes of youth formerly in foster care.

Texas Tech University: $2,500

To support the Dean's Scholarship which helps teacher education students at Texas Tech University who demonstrate need.

Texas Tribune, Inc.: $100,000

To support the increase in the Texas Tribune's production of nonpartisan, public service journalism on higher education issues during the coronavirus pandemic.

the TSTC Foundation: $715,743

To support TSTC to accelerate the conversion of its technical programs to performance-based education pathways.

University of Houston: $300,000

To support Houston GPS to increase student success by supporting a project designed to improve postsecondary completion for students from all backgrounds by using evidence-based strategies to build the knowledge and competency of institutional partners and develop and implement projects for institution and systems-level policy and practice change.

University of Houston-Clear Lake: $250,000

To support the UHCLTeach program which will prepare STEM teachers to implement engaging, inquiry-based learning through research-driven, culturally relevant methods.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH GEORGIA FOUNDATION, INC.: $2,500

To support the President's Need-Based Scholarship Program in recognition of Dr. Bonita C. Jacob's role as a mentor for the GTF Fellows program.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS: $664,541

To support UNT High School Career Connect which, through partnerships with Denton County schools, provides career assessments, guidance, and resources to students, counselors, administrators, and parents via mentoring from UNT student peer mentors and full-time staff.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: $409,000

To support the ongoing work of the Texas Transfer Alliance (TTA) and the inclusion of the Texas Tech University System (including Angelo State University), Midwestern State University, and Texas Woman’s University and their feeder community colleges into the scope of work. The TTA works to positively influence postsecondary attainment and affordability by addressing the high level of inefficiency and credit loss students experience when transitioning between institutions.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: $400,000

To support research that will help the state, K-12 schools, and two- and four-year colleges identify optimal programs and develop policies to improve postsecondary outcomes, in addition to producing the first analyses to capture a host of predictors of postsecondary outcomes for students who ever received English Learner services during K-12.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: $204,170

To support a research project that will conduct longitudinal focus groups to hear from students about why they leave college and explore points of leverage that might change these outcomes.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN: $2,500

To support a need-based scholarship for the Office of Scholarship and Financial Aid Completion Grant Fund in recognition of Dr. Carolyn Landel's role as a mentor for the GTF Fellows program.

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO: $262,131

To support the UTSA/Urban Education Institute team’s expertise in qualitative research and in improvement science, as well as their access to school, district, and education-focused community organization leaders in the San Antonio area to assist with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's AI college advising communication tool, “ADVi.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY: $2,500

To support a need-based scholarship for the Harlingen Consolidated School District STEP-UP program in recognition of Dr. Patricia McHatton's role as a mentor for the GTF Fellows program.

WEST TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: $786,361

To support a project that will provide resources, guidance, and support for the Texas Panhandle's rural students, adult learners, and communities to help achieve needed systems and cultural change that builds an engaged, invested community where all people thrive in sustainable careers and communities.

Memberships

Council on Foundations, Inc.

$13,500

Grantmakers for Education

$3,700

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations

$7,390

PEAK Grantmaking, Inc.

$2,250

Educational Matching Grant Program

Greater Texas Foundation Educational Matching Grant Program 2020

Distributed as part of the foundation’s Educational Matching Grant Program, whereby the foundation matches contributions to eligible organizations made by officers, board members, external advisory members, managers, and employees.

$15,000 to Howard Payne University

$15,000 to McCoy College of Business Foundation at Texas State University

$15,000 to Prairie View A&M University

$1,500 to Region 15 Education Service Center

$1,500 to Southwestern University

$30,000 to Stephen F. Austin State University

$15,000 to Texas A&M Foundation

$7,500 to Texas A&M University

$12,000 to The Texas A&M University Commerce Foundation

$300 to The University of Texas at Austin