Overview
Beginning in fall 2026, the Educating Character Initiative (ECI) will award grants to multi-institutional teams of practitioners and scholars across U.S. colleges and universities and beyond to form intentional communities organized around a timely concern, aim, question, or challenge in character education.
We anticipate awarding Communities of Impact (CoI) Grants of up to $75,000 for a one-year effort. Of the $75,000 available for CoI grants, applicants may request up to $50,000 for the main award and up to $25,000 for travel expenses. Outstanding CoIs will be eligible to apply for sustaining funds for work beyond the initial year in the form of grants for up to an additional $75,000.
Priority will be given to applications that demonstrate how their CoI will:
- Identify and empower leaders in the landscape of higher education to address the needs of the character education community.
- Create opportunities for collaborative learning through publication, convenings, conferences, and workshops, both at the home institutions of members of the CoI and on the national and international stage.
- Produce practical, adaptable, publicly sharable resources that address the character formation needs of faculty, staff, and administration.
- Engage in ongoing landscape analysis of the character community, providing perspective on challenges and opportunities and generating novel questions for inquiry and research that directly support character-building projects at institutions of higher education and beyond.
- Contribute to the larger effort by providing a scholarly and organizational backbone for all CoIs.
For those familiar with the rhythm of our funding initiatives for institutional grants, please note this difference: we anticipate reviewing these grants on a rolling basis with announcements of funding occurring quarterly between fall 2026 and spring 2028.
Read a PDF of the complete Request for Proposals, including additional details, linked below:
Grant Opportunity
Communities of Impact Grants
- Funding range: up to $75,000 (up to $50,000 for the main award and up to $25,000 for travel)
- Duration: One year, with opportunities to apply for an additional year of funding for sustaining CoI grants.
- Purpose: Support substantial and sustained efforts to address a timely concern, aim, question, or challenge in character education within the sector of higher education.
These grants are well-suited for multi-institutional higher education teams and cross-institutional networks of colleges, universities, and organizations that wish to collaborate on a shared project.
We anticipate that competitive applications will:
- Show clear connections between the proposed work and ECI’s goals to catalyze a movement for character in higher education
- Have faculty/staff expertise to lead a sustained initiative and who are committed to mentoring early career practitioners and scholars
- Are well-positioned to advance the field through the contribution of practical resources that can be adapted for use by other institutions and practitioners across the landscape of higher education.
Key Dates
- Grant Portal opens: August 14, 2026
- Grant review and decisions announced quarterly: between September 2026 – June 2028.
How to Apply
- Applications are submitted through the CoI Grant Portal (opens August. 14, 2026)
- Project leaders must be in or contracted to a long-term faculty or staff position at an accredited college or university in the United States, or alternatively, a representative of a higher-ed serving non-profit organization based in the United States with established relationships at colleges and universities and a mission aligned with character education
Contact
Please direct any questions to . Our staff is committed to learning from, with, and for the ECI Community — including those of you who are applying for grants. We want to partner with you in a shared effort and movement to educate character in colleges and universities.