USA Funds Awards $3.7 Million in Higher Education Grants

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — USA Funds®, a nonprofit
organization that helps American families benefit from postsecondary education,
announces the award of more than $3.7 million in grants for its most recent
quarterly grant-making cycle. USA Funds awarded 123 grants to organizations in
18 states and the District of Columbia.

“These grant recipients support programs that improve students’ awareness of and
preparation for postsecondary education, promote access to high-quality higher
education opportunities, and increase student persistence in and completion of
their programs of study,” said Robert C. Ballard, USA Funds senior vice
president, Access and Outreach.

Highlights of USA Funds’ recent grant-making include the following awards of
$50,000 or more:

— Indiana Commission for Higher Education (Indianapolis) — $270,000 to
support Learn More Indiana’s College Success Coalition and College
Success Mentoring Initiatives to help Indiana students of all ages
succeed in school, complete college and connect to careers.

— American Indian College Fund (Denver) — $150,000 to enhance scholarship
support for American Indian students.

— Central Indiana Community Foundation (Indianapolis) — $150,000 to
support the Indiana Latino Scholarship Fund.

— Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning (Jackson, Miss.) — $150,000
to build and deploy an articulation and transfer tool on the existing
statewide college access website, to serve as a single point of entry
for students seeking to transfer within the community college and
university systems or to re-enter postsecondary education.

— Salish Kootenai College (Pablo, Mo.) — $150,000 to support college
completion and student financial literacy.

— United Negro College Fund (Indianapolis) — $118,000 to provide
fundraising support to the Indiana UNCF.

— Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (Washington, D.C.)
— $100,000 to support a white paper to study how Asian and Pacific
Islander American students finance their education. The grant also will
support a conference to disseminate the research results.

— Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township Foundation
(Indianapolis) — $100,000 to support the Advancement Via Individual
Determination program, a college-readiness system designed to increase
the number of students who enroll in four-year colleges by focusing on
students in the academic middle.

— United Way of Central Indiana (Indianapolis) — $100,000 to support
Connected By 25 to ensure that foster care youth are educated, housed,
financially stable, employed and connected to a support system by age
25; to support community school coordinators at various Indianapolis
Public Schools; and to support the Early Readers Club, which promotes
financial literacy from an early age.

— Institute for Higher Education Policy (Washington, D.C.) — $99,452 to
support the IHEP Summer Academy conference, which brings together
college and university teams to help identify measures to improve access
and success for students of color and other historically underserved
populations in higher education. The funding also supports teams from
Minority-Serving Institutions to participate in the IHEP Summer Academy.

— The Regents of the University of California (Oakland, Calif.) — $77,000
to support the Puente Project 9th Grade Student Leadership Conferences
to motivate ninth grade students to aspire to higher education by
providing them with the opportunity to experience a college-going
culture.

— Youth Entrepreneurs of Kansas (Wichita, Kan.) — $77,000 to support the
Youth Entrepreneurs classroom and alumni support program, which provides
students with the knowledge and skills necessary to start their own
business.

— Wichita Public Schools (Wichita, Kan.) — $75,000 to support the
tutorial element of the Advancement Via Individual Determination program
in middle and high schools within the school district.

— Indiana Dollars for Scholars (Indianapolis) — $66,000 to expand access
to postsecondary education and to encourage educational preparation by
promoting and supporting programs of Scholarship America that serve
students, families and communities in Indiana.

— Business Higher Education Forum (Washington, D.C.) — $50,000 to promote
college readiness, access and degree completion for underserved
populations, particularly in math and science.

— Cathedral High School (Indianapolis) — $50,000 to fund tuition for four
students to attend Cathedral High School.

— Charles Tindley School (Indianapolis) — $50,000 to support a college
completion program, which provides outreach to Tindley graduates and
college readiness training for current students.

— City Year (Seattle) — $50,000 to support a school-based strategy to
improve the conditions that lead to students’ succeeding in school and
to keep them on track to graduate.

— College Success Foundation (Issaquah, Wash.) — $50,000 to support a
program that boosts the number of low-income students entering college
and their success while in college.

— Community Health Network Foundation (Indianapolis) — $50,000 to support
a community school coordinator at T.C. Howe Community High School, to
align collaborative efforts with student academic achievement and youth
development goals leading to high school graduation and preparation for
postsecondary education.

— Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (Washington, D.C.) — $50,000 to
support regional training sessions on college readiness, financing a
college education and leadership.

— Excelencia in Education (Washington, D.C.) — $50,000 to analyze and
develop a long-term strategy to increase Latino student college success
and completion.

— Foundation for Students Rising Above (San Francisco) — $50,000 to
provide high school juniors with comprehensive guidance and support
through college and beyond to help ensure their success in college,
career and life.

— Friends of Hawaii Robotics (Honolulu) — $50,000 to sustain student
interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics during the
elementary and secondary school grades by developing awareness and
interest in robotics.

— The Fund for Hoosier Excellence (Indianapolis) — $50,000 to provide
scholarships to Indiana minority students who have demonstrated academic
excellence and leadership.

— Girls Incorporated of Indianapolis (Indianapolis) — $50,000 to sponsor
a math and science program that gives girls opportunities to explore,
ask questions and solve problems in a girl-focused setting.

— Hispanic Scholarship Fund (San Francisco) — $50,000 to increase
scholarship support for Hispanic students.

— I Have a Dream Foundation (Portland, Ore.) — $50,000 to provide
academic support services to students and families from third grade
through high school.

— Indiana Black Expo (Indianapolis) — $50,000 to support the annual
Indiana Black Expo Statewide Education Conference, which prepares
Indiana’s teachers and administrators to effectively work with a diverse
student population.

— Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates (Phoenix) — $50,000 to provide at-risk
youth with academic, personal, leadership and vocational skills to be
successful in their lives and in society.

— Marian University (Indianapolis) — $50,000 to provide support for
Twenty-first Century Scholars enrolled at Marian University.

— National Center for Youth Law (Washington, D.C.) — $50,000 to create a
network of education champions to provide guidance to foster care youth
as they explore postsecondary education opportunities.

— Police Athletic League of Indianapolis (Indianapolis) — $50,000 to
support the Indy PAL Club Youth Mentoring Program, which provides
tutoring and mentoring for inner-city youth.

— The Posse Foundation (New York) — $50,000 to identify, recruit and
select public high school students with extraordinary academic and
leadership potential to become Posse Scholars. These students receive
four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships from Posse’s partner
institutions of higher education.

— Thurgood Marshall College Fund (New York) — $50,000 to support the
annual leadership institute, which prepares students for careers by
exposing them to business professionals, networking, internships and
employment opportunities.

— Training, Inc. (Indianapolis) — $50,000 to provide career and life
skills training to disadvantaged, unemployed or under-employed men and
women.

— YMCA of the USA (Chicago) — $50,000 to bring together national College
Goal Sunday leaders to discuss best practices.

Between Oct. 15 and Dec. 15, USA Funds will accept additional grant requests
that meet its guidelines. For details, visit
www.usafunds.org/community/Pages/Grants.aspx.

Headquartered in Indianapolis, USA Funds is a nonprofit corporation that works
to enhance postsecondary education preparedness, access and success by providing
and supporting financial and other valued services. For more information about
USA Funds, visit www.usafunds.org.

SOURCE USA Funds