Marion County school districts get funding to help students attend college
INDIANAPOLIS (MIRROR INDY) — Six Marion County school districts will each receive $20,000 from the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation to help more students go to college, the organization announced Monday, March 25.
The school districts that will receive funding are:
- Franklin Township schools
- Indianapolis Public Schools
- Pike Township schools
- Warren Township schools
- Wayne Township schools
- Victory College Prep
Districts are still determining how the money will be used. They also will have the opportunity to apply for up to $1.5 million to fund their strategies to get more students into college for four years. Those proposals are due July 31.
This is the second round of giving for the Fairbanks Foundation’s College Matters initiative. The organization plans to award $15 million in total to local nonprofits and schools to boost Marion County’s college going rates, especially among Black, Hispanic and low-income students.
In September, the foundation gave nearly $5 million to Marion County schools, community organizations and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education to help boost FAFSA completion rates.
Indiana’s college going rate has been a hot topic since 2020, when the number of Hoosiers going to college dipped to its lowest in a generation.
In Marion County, less than 48% of high school seniors went to college in 2021, according to the Commission for Higher Education. About 45% of Black students and 38% of Hispanic students enrolled in college, compared to 52% of white students.
By directly funding Marion County schools, Fairbanks officials said they hope to address the racial and socioeconomic inequities that lead to gaps in the college going rate.
“Ensuring that more of our high school students are enrolling in and graduating from college not only plays a huge role in the overall well-being of each student but is critical to strengthening our local economy,” Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation president and CEO Claire Fiddian-Green said in a news release.
Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus.
Contact higher education reporter Claire Rafford at claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org or follow on social media @clairerafford.