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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded $62 million to higher education institutions across the state.
The Indianapolis-based private foundation on Monday announced the gifts, which range from $1 million to $5 million apiece and were made to 38 colleges and universities.
The grants are expected to support degrees in health sciences; K-12 teacher education and technology fields; local community engagement and student recruitment; digital learning; mental health care for students; Black and Latino student recruitment and retainment; employer partnerships for career-ready skill programs; and K-12 school partnerships.
Indiana University, Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community College—through the IU Foundation, Purdue Research Foundation and Ivy Tech Foundation, respectively—each received the top gift of $5 million.
Eight schools received $2.5 million—Ball State University, Butler University, Indiana State University, Indiana Wesleyan University, University of Indianapolis, University of Notre Dame, University of Southern Indiana and Vincennes University.
The rest of the schools received $1 million, including Marian University and Martin University in Indianapolis.
The awards were based on the size of student enrollment.
“Higher education leaders recognize that they have to adapt to the changing demographics of undergraduate students, the importance of technology in education and the ever-growing need for students to be career-ready upon graduation,” Ted Maple, the Endowment’s vice president for education, said in a written statement. “Leaders here in Indiana are responding to these and other challenges with thoughtful, strategic and collaborative approaches that we believe can improve the financial sustainability of the institutions and the educational experiences of their students.”
The grants are part of the second phase of the Endowment’s “Charting the Future for Indiana’s Colleges and Universities” initiative, which launched in 2019. The first phase of grants totaled nearly $6.2 million.
The third round of grants is expected to be awarded in 2021 and total up to $40 million.
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Thank you Lilly Endowment! Where in the world would Indiana be without the Lilly vision and philanthropy?
Agree, they come through with a talent for good timing and good needs.
You’ve got to be kidding. The amounts are drops in the bucket. Yes, Lilly Endowment is a great community asset and they do many helpful things. But look how much money they squander on faith-based entities, still. And how insular its leadership is. And so IU et al. get $5M each. And a whopping $2.5M to the likes of Butler. I’ll sleep better knowing where that’s really going to have impact. Not.
The foundation’s charter specified support for faith based organizations. It’s private money and it should be distributed in keeping with the desires of the people who earned it.