Educating Character Initiative 2026 Institutional Impact Grants
Supports large-scale, multi-year projects to integrate character education into undergraduate programs at U.S. colleges and universities, fostering institutional and community-wide impact.
Funder: Wake Forest University - The Program for Leadership and Character
Due Dates: February 20, 2026 (LOI) | June 1, 2026 (Final Proposal, invited applicants)
Funding Amounts: $100,000–$1,000,000 per award over three years
Summary: Supports major, sustained efforts by U.S. colleges and universities to integrate character education into undergraduate programs.
Key Information: Submission for the 2026 cycle is closed; future cycles may follow a similar schedule and process.
Description
The Educating Character Initiative Institutional Impact Grants, administered by Wake Forest University’s Program for Leadership and Character, are designed to fund substantial, multi-year projects that integrate character education across undergraduate programs at U.S. colleges and universities. These grants support institutions with existing infrastructure and expertise in character education, providing resources to develop, implement, and share context-specific approaches that can serve as models for the broader higher education community. Projects may include curricular development, co-curricular programming, faculty and staff seminars, or multi-institutional collaborations, and are expected to have broad, lasting institutional impact.
