The Teagle Foundation in New York City has announced grants and commitments totaling more than $3.9 million to strengthen and broaden access to liberal arts education.

The grants were awarded through three initiatives to a range of institutions across the country, from community colleges to research universities as well as nonprofit educational organizations. Through the Cornerstone: Learning for Living, the foundation awarded 26 implementation and planning grants aimed at creating common conversations around transformative texts for incoming students and developing more coherent pathways through general education that connect the humanities with fields they are studying with an eye toward post-college careers.

The Education for American Civic Life initiative awarded implementation grants to the City College of New York, the Minnesota Humanities Center, and the University of North Carolina Wilmington to provide students with comprehensive civic education that connects to local history and encourages public service. And through the Transfer Pathways to the Liberal Arts initiative the foundation will award one planning grant and two implementation grants to streamline academic requirements for transfer from two-year community colleges to four-year independent colleges with an eye to ensuring timely baccalaureate completion.

“Liberal education prepares college students to engage with the most challenging issues facing our society,” said Teagle Foundation president Andrew Delbanco. “These grants will encourage more students to experience the humanities, build their knowledge of American democratic ideals and institutions, and, for students in community colleges who hope to earn a bachelor’s degree, help them realize that hope by facilitating transfer to a four-year liberal arts institution.” 

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