The Research Grants on reducing inequality program supports research to build, test, or increase understanding of programs, policies, or practices to reduce inequality in the academic, social, behavioral, or economic outcomes of young people ages 5-25 in the United States.
Donor Name: William T. Grant Foundation
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/07/2026
Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million
Grant Duration: 3 Years
Details:
Foundation focuses on reducing inequality grew out of the view that research can do more than help us understand the problem of inequality—it can generate effective responses. They believe that it is time to build stronger bodies of knowledge on how to reduce inequality in the United States and to move beyond the mounting research evidence about the scope, causes, and consequences of inequality. Thus, they fund research that focuses on responses to inequality.
Types of Grants
- Major Research Grants
- Projects involving secondary data analysis are typically at the lower end of the budget range, whereas projects involving new data collection and sample recruitment can be at the higher end.
- Officers’ Research Grants
- Studies may be stand-alone projects or may build off larger projects. The budget should be appropriate for the activities proposed.
Funding Information
- Major research grants
- $100,000 to $600,000 over 2-3 years, including up to 15% indirect costs. Funding amounts vary based on the study design.
- Officers’ research grants
- $25,000–$50,000 over 1-2 years, including up to 15% indirect costs.
Uses of Funds
- Descriptive studies that describe, explore, or explain how programs, practices, or policies reduce inequality.
- Intervention studies that provide causal evidence on the effectiveness of programs or policies for reducing inequality.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Foundation makes grants only to tax-exempt organizations. They do not make grants to individuals.
- They encourage proposals from organizations that are under-represented among grantee institutions, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities, Alaska NativeServing Institutions, Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions.
Eligible Principal Investigators
- The Foundation defers to the applying organization’s criteria for who is eligible to act as a Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on a grant. In general, they expect that all investigators will have the experience and skills to carry out the proposed work.
- They strive to support a diverse group of researchers in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, and seniority, and they encourage research projects led by Black or African American, Indigenous, Latinx, and/or Asian or Pacific Islander American researchers.
Eligible Studies
- Only studies that 1) align with the stated research interests of this program and 2) relate to the outcomes of young people between the ages of 5 and 25 in the United States are eligible for consideration.
- They do not support non-research activities such as program implementation and operational costs, or make contributions to building funds, fundraising drives, endowment funds, general operating budgets, or scholarships. Letters of inquiry for ineligible projects are screened out without further review.
For more information, visit William T. Grant Foundation.
