The Educating Character Initiative (ECI), supported by Lilly Endowment Inc. and Wake Forest University, has awarded $15.6 million in new Institutional Impact Grants to 28 projects across 33 colleges and universities. These three-year grants—each valued at up to $1 million—are designed to enable institutions to implement sustained and significant efforts to integrate character education into undergraduate programs. The funding will support leaders, faculty, and staff in aligning character development with their institution’s mission, culture, and academic context.
On July 10, Lilly Endowment Inc. announced an additional $10 million to fund this round of grants, bringing the total for this cycle to $15.6 million. In addition, the Endowment pledged another $20 million to support a future round of Institutional Impact Grants in 2026, signaling strong ongoing commitment to ECI’s mission.
Among the awardees is a multi-institutional collaborative project involving six institutions. The 33 recipient institutions also represent a wide range of higher education sectors, including two community colleges, seven minority-serving institutions, 10 public universities, 19 private colleges (12 of which are religiously affiliated), and two women-serving institutions. These institutions are geographically dispersed, with six located in the West, eight in the South or Mid-South, seven in the Northeast, and seven in the Midwest.
The funded projects reflect a broad diversity in scope and approach. They are aimed at fostering institutional and cultural change to support character development in higher education. Many of the initiatives are designed to create conditions conducive to character growth, demonstrating a commitment to improving student lives and shaping long-term values within academic environments.
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