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NEH Grants

Challenge Grants for Two-Year Colleges

Office of Challenge Grants

Receipt Deadline February 2, 2012

The deadline for this program has passed. Updated guidelines will be posted in advance of the next deadline. In the meantime, please use these guidelines to get a sense of what is involved in assembling an application.

Brief Summary

The National Endowment for the Humanities invites two-year colleges to apply in a special Challenge Grant competition to strengthen their long-term humanities programs and resources.  Two-year colleges are major educational assets that have too often been overlooked, even though over half of students in post-secondary education attend two-year institutions.  The humanities can and should play a vital role in community colleges.[1]  The perspectives of history, philosophy, and literature can enrich the educational experience of students attending two-year colleges, deepening their understanding of questions related to differences among cultures, as manifested in diverse understandings of citizenship, politics, and ethics.  NEH seeks to encourage two-year colleges to develop models of excellence that enhance the role of the humanities on their campuses.  The goals of this initiative are

  • to enable two-year colleges to strengthen programs in the humanities, especially the study of the world’s many cultures and civilizations;
  • to support model humanities curricula at two-year colleges that may be replicated at other institutions; and
  • to encourage two-year colleges to broaden the base of financial support for the humanities.

[1] The terms “two-year college” and “community college” are used interchangeably for the purposes of this special initiative.

 

What’s New for 2012

Prospective applicants are encouraged to submit a one- or two-page letter of intent to apply, at least six weeks before the application deadline. The letter should briefly describe the proposed project, especially its humanities content, and the humanities credentials of the faculty members who would be involved in planning and implementing the project.

 

Program Statistics

In the inaugural year of the Challenge Grants for Two-Year Colleges program (2011), the program received 34 applications and made 6 awards, for a funding ratio of 18 percent.

 

Questions?

Contact the staff of NEH’s Office of Challenge Grants at 202-606-8309 or at challenge@neh.gov. Hearing-impaired applicants can contact NEH via TDD at 1-866-372-2930.

Guidelines Resources

Download Application Materials

Budget Resources

Program Resources

Sample Application Narratives