The ECI’s Michael Prinzing reanalyzes data supporting claims about the declining use of the language of virtue and character and sees a different trend – that the cultural salience of moral language of this kind is on the rise.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
In 2027, we anticipate awarding Institutional Impact Grants ranging from $100,000 to $1,000,000 and Capacity-Building Grants of up to $50,000 to institutions. Successful grantees will be teams of faculty, staff, and administrators at U.S. colleges and universities with outstanding proposals for developing the moral, civic, and/or intellectual character and capacity of faculty, staff, and students. These grants provide institutions with the time, resources, and flexibility to determine what works best in their specific context.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
With support from Lilly Endowment Inc., the ECI has awarded $20.5 million in Institutional Impact Grants to 44 projects directly impacting 49 colleges and universities. Each institution will undertake a long-term initiative to advance character education for undergraduates. These three-year grants, up to $1 million each, empower leaders, faculty, and staff to integrate character into undergraduate curricula and programs in alignment with their mission, context, and culture.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
The ECI’s Aaron D. Cobb and Emily Hunt-Hinojosa reflect on the influence moral repair has on individuals’ and communities’ ability to build character.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
The ECI will extend its impact on character education across the country by offering a new round of grants in 2027 for U.S higher education institutions with support from a nearly $44 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. The grant will also enable ECI to award additional grants in 2026.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News, News
Baylor University’s Andrew Hogue and the ECI’s Emily Hunt-Hinojosa share learnings from the Common Good Character Trust. Through the group’s discussions, they discovered that “character-building efforts that aim at the common good need a model of character formation that accounts more fully for institutions, cultures, and broader social forces.”
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
ECI Executive Director Jennifer Rothschild was featured on The Flourishing Leaders podcast, where she discussed character as a social story, hospitality as a leadership practice, and the future of character education in higher education.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
ECI Researchers Michael Prinzing and Juliette Ratchford recently ran a study that investigated what students think about intentional efforts on the part of faculty or institutions to foster their character growth.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
The ECI Research Team often gets questions like the above from educators leading character-related projects. Before discussing assessment tools, we first need to answer a deeper question: What kind(s) of evidence could tell us whether your institution or program is having the intended effect on students?
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News
We’re pleased to share the Educating Character Initiative 2025 Project Brief, a snapshot of our shared work and its direction. This document reflects the ECI Community’s collective efforts and commitment to forming students, institutions, and cultures shaped by character for the common good.
Categories: Educating Character Initiative News