The William T. Grant Foundation invests in high-quality research focused on reducing inequality in youth outcomes and improving the use of research evidence in decisions that affect young people in the United States.

Focus Areas

We are focused on programs, policies, and practices that can reduce inequality in youth outcomes, and strategies to improve the use of research evidence in ways that benefit youth.

Grant Programs

Our grant programs support research that builds stronger theory and empirical evidence in our focus areas. Funding opportunities include grants for mid-career researchers and career-development awards for promising early-career scholars.

About Us

We begin with a set of questions, not preconceptions. And we focus our support on learning more about long-term, fundamental challenges. This means looking beyond the front page, asking big questions, and being open to unexpected answers.

Our History

Since our founding in 1936, the William T. Grant Foundation has worked to further the understanding of human behavior through research.

Upcoming Funding Opportunities

Research Grants

The online application is now closed. The next deadline for Letters of Inquiry is May 1, 2019, at 3:00 PM EST.

Learn More

Institutional Challenge Grant

The online application is now closed. The next deadline for applications is TBD.

Learn More

William T. Grant Scholars Program

The online application is now closed. The next deadline for applications is July 2, 2019, at 3:00 PM EST.

Learn More

Featured Updates

Grant Announcement

Five New Research Grants to Build Theory and Evidence on Reducing Inequality

We are proud to announce five new grants to support research on reducing inequality in youth outcomes.

Read More

Scholars Program

Foundation Names Ten William T. Grant Scholars Finalists

We are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2019 William T. Grant Scholars Program. Ten early-career researchers were selected from a pool of 52 applicants after a rigorous review by our staff and Selection Committee.

Read More

Webinar

Slides from the Webinar: What Does it Take to Study the Use of Research Evidence?

On Tuesday, November 27, program officer Kim DuMont and grantee Drew Gitomer held a webinar to highlight measures and methods from a range of methodological traditions that have been employed by researchers to assess the use of research evidence in disparate policy and practice domains.

Read More

Reducing Inequality

Letters of Inquiry to Propose Research on Reducing Inequality: Identifying the Lever for Change

By Jenny Irons
As you prepare your LOI, ask yourself: what strategy will I test, build, improve, or identify through this project that might reduce unequal outcomes among youth ages 5-25 in the United States?
Read More

Applying for Research Grants

2019 Research Grants Application Guides

This year, to give potential applicants a more centralized view of the research priorities, application processes, and selection criteria for research grants in a given focus area, we have created a unique application guide and webpage for each.

Applicants can now visit overview pages, browse resources, and access application guides that are tailored specifically to research grants on reducing inequality and research grants on improving the use of research evidence, respectively.

Read More

Featured Resources

Research-Practice Partnerships Microsite

Guiding tips, work samples, and resources from successful research-practice partnerships.

Visit Website

Grants Archive

Our historical archive, spanning nearly ten years of grantmaking across programs and focus areas.

Visit Archive