At the Foundation's initiative, awards are made to take advantage of particularly important philanthropic opportunities in education.  The Foundation does not accept proposals or letters of  inquiry for this program area. This component includes grants initiated by the Foundation that support its overall goals but that do not fit into any of the other four Education Program components.  Among them are selective grants that work to ensure the health and quality of institutions of higher education in the U.S. and to promote equal access to their benefits.  This category currently includes the Engineering Schools of the West Initiative. 

In addition, the Foundation supports research.  We have focused on two areas.  The first has to do with issues that arise from the controversey over "affirmative action" in the nation's higher education institutions.  For example, a 2001 Hewlett-supported study (Hakuta & Antonio, Stanford University) tested the effect of racial diversity on students’ critical thinking using a randomized assignment design.  In a final report to the Foundation (February 28, 2003), the principal investigators concluded that students in diverse learning environments exhibit greater “complexity” in reasoning about novel ideas and, further, that this diversity effect was greater on students whose prior exposure to racially integrated environments had been minimal. 

Along a different path, a Princeton University study carried out by Professor Marta Tienda focused on the behavioral effect of different admissions policies on the college-going plans and course-taking patterns of Texas high school students.   Results from both of these studies were cited in briefs before the Supreme Court on the University of Michigan undergraduate case. 

The second area of research that we have supported has been the analysis of approaches to improving the quality and usefulness of research in the social sciences and education.  Here we have given a number of grants—one example is our current grant to the National Research Council.   

Please note, we are not accepting unsolicited LOIs or proposals in 2008 for Opportunity grants.

Highlights

Engineering Schools of the West Initiative

Improving the quality of undergraduate engineering education and increasing the number and diversity of engineering graduates.