· Public charity
Achieving the Dream Inc
To lead and support a national network of community colleges to achieve sustainable institutional transformation through sharing knowledge, innovative solutions and effective practices and policies leading to improved outcomes for all students.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k1 grant · $8k
- $10k–50k10 grants · $235k
- $50k–250k1 grant · $120k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT | $120,000 |
| DALLAS COLLEGE EASTFIELD CAMPUS | $30,000 |
| CHATTANOOGA STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION | $25,000 |
| EVERETT COMMUNITY COLLEGE | $25,000 |
| TALLAHASSEE STATE COLLEGE | $25,000 |
| SOUTHWESTERN OREGON COMMUNITY COLLEGE | $25,000 |
| FORSYTH TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE | $25,000 |
| NORTH CENTRAL STATE COLLEGE | $25,000 |
| GRAYSON COLLEGE | $25,000 |
| EL PASO COMMUNITY COLLEGE | $15,000 |
| ALAMO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT | $15,000 |
| THE ASPEN INSTITUTE | $7,500 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 68% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
43 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2025, 35 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $105k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- RFResearch Foundation of the City University of New York3× · 2017–2024 · $220k · revenue +22%
- ICIlisagvik College3× · 2020–2022 · $120k · revenue +16%
- UTUNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE4× · 2020–2023 · $111k · revenue +39%
Funded once
- FFFOUNDATION FOR THE LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGESgraduatedone grant, 2017 · $300k · revenue ×32 · 72% of their budget
- PHPATRICK & HENRY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATIONgraduatedone grant, 2017 · $235k · revenue +126%
- SMSAN MATEO COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGES DISTRICTone grant, 2017 · $179k
How this is measured
Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
Closest unfunded matches
The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.
To provide higher education opportunities, at the community college level, including vocational and technical training. as a tribal community college, we emphasize the teaching and learning of dakota culture and language toward the…
To ensure that the student body experiences balanced intellectual, psychological, social and spiritual development, aimed at enabling them to become active productive members of society where they live and work.
The foundation provides academic scholarships and financial support to the college.
Rooted in the liberal arts & sciences & lutheran expression of the christian faith, & is committed to offering a challenging education that develops qualities of mind, spirit, & body necessary for a rewarding life of leadership & service…
St. francis college is an independent, coeducational institution of higher education chartered by an act of the regents of the university of the state of new york on april 10, 1957.
The organization's mission is to educate students for creative occupations in diverse fields of arts and media.
Columbia college improves lives by providing quality education to both traditional and nontraditional students, helping them achieve their true potential.
The columbia state community college foundation encourages friends, alumni, economic partners and others to invest their time and resources toward improvement of education at columbia state community college and making higher education…
Hilbert college is an independent institution of higher learning that embraces its catholic franciscan heritage and values. students from diverse backgrounds are educated in liberal arts and professional programs to become informed…
Chartered in 1826, lafayette college is dedicated to excellence in undergraduate education. students are engaged in a transformative educational experience that bridges the liberal arts, engineering, and interdisciplinary study. the…
California Indian college (cinc), is dedicated to building educational strength and will provide educational opportunities leading to degrees for American Indians and all students with indigenous backgrounds
Illinois college is a co-educational institution of higher education learning providing a four-year educational program leading to the baccalaureate degree. illinois college is a community committed to the highest standards of scholarship…
How this is measured
34 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.
How this is measured
Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 34 of the 117 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.
Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding
A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
- Who funds COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF PHILADELPHIA FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds FOUNDATION FOR THE LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGES ↗
- Who funds PATRICK & HENRY COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds Research Foundation of the City University of New York ↗
- Who funds UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds FORT PECK COMMUNITY COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds Ilisagvik College ↗
- Who funds UNITED TRIBES TECHNICAL COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds EAST LOS ANGELES COLLEGE FOUNDATION ↗
- Who funds LAC COURTE OREILLES OJIBWE UNIVERSITY ↗
- Who funds SALISH KOOTENAI COLLEGE INC ↗
- Who funds COLLEGE OF THE MENOMINEE NATION ↗
- Who funds STONE CHILD COLLEGE ↗
- Who funds AANIIIH NAKODA COLLEGE (FORT BELKNAP COLLEGE) ↗
- Who funds RED LAKE NATION COLLEGE ↗
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: American Association of Community Colleges · Jobs for the Future Inc · Ascendium Education Solutions Inc · American Indian Higher Education Consortium Inc · American Association of Colleges and Universities · American Indian College Fund · The Aspen Institute Inc · I Car Education Foundation · Mdrc · Foundation for California Community Colleges · Folds of Honor Foundation · Truth Initiative Foundation
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Achieving the Dream Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Achieving the Dream Inc. Bigger dots raise more.
- University of Maryland Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Achieving the Dream’s filings →