The Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment has announced grants totaling $22.6 million to help higher education institutions with campuses in Indiana engage young people and encourage them to envision themselves attending college.

Awarded through the endowment’s Indiana Youth Programs on Campus initiative (IYPC), the grants will help in the creation of programs for youth ages 5 to 18 or to expand and enhance existing programs. IYPC is designed to boost the number of Indiana youth who obtain valuable postsecondary degrees and credentials from Indiana colleges and universities and strengthen how schools recruit and educate students who are traditionally underserved, including youth of color, first-generation college students, and those from families with limited resources.

To that end, some schools will offer programs that focus on entrepreneurship, leadership development, and career exploration. Others will engage young people in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. And other schools, recognizing the ways in which the arts can complement STEM experiences, are developing interdisciplinary approaches rooted in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math). In addition, many schools are collaborating with youth-serving organizations in their communities to implement their programs and recruit participants.

“By supporting these efforts, we hope that more young people in Indiana will experience what it’s like to be on a college campus and take part in meaningful programs that can help prepare them for success in college,” said Ted Maple, the endowment’s vice president for education. “It is our belief that these programs will not only add to the academic enrichment of young people but also inspire them to see higher education institutions in Indiana as part of their plans for life after high school.”

For a complete list of grantees, see the Lilly Endowment website.

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