California · Nonprofit
FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION
FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION (California) receives grants from 58 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,574,469 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,679,480). 34 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.9M
- Funders on record
- 58
- Grants received
- $8.6M
- Net assets
- $4.2M
What Foundation for a College Education does
Mission
Fce's mission is to increase the number of first-generation, low-income students of color from east palo alto, ca and surrounding communities who graduate with a degree from a four-year college or university. Fce was founded out of a desire to improve the social and econcomic conditions of east palo residents. Fce's belief was education is a powreful tool for the individual, family and community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
College Bound Program Believing that high expectations lead to high achievement, FCE has developed a program that encourages low-income students to pursue advanced academic work, so they are prepared to succeed in college. Under the College Bound Program, students receive tutoring, leadership development, college planning and counseling, plus financial aid, and scholarship application guidance. One hundred percent of FCE's students graduate from high school and enroll in post-secondary institutions. Eighty-eight percent of them complete college within six years. FCE helps students develop the academic skills and self-confidence to succeed in college and beyond.
$519,844 spent49% of program spendingCollege Success ProgramRecognizing that getting students into college is only the first step, FCE continues to support them through college to ensure that they graduate with a bachelor's degree or higher. The College Success Program provides students with mentoring, summer internship opportunities, career counseling and leadership development workshops to ensure that they complete their undergraduate education
$231,495 spent22% of program spendingCollege Scholarship Program The College Scholarship Program offers competitive scholarships to help offset the costs associated with funding a college education. Scholarships, which are funded by individual and foundation donors, play a key role in ensuring that low-income students complete college within six years.
$213,164 spent20% of program spendingOTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 4: Meta Summer Academy ProgramThe Meta Summer Academy Program provides externs the opportunity to learn about the day-to-day operations of one of the worlds leading social media networks by being part of a dynamic workforce. Externs work closely with Metas mentors in their respective capacities to gain real-world work experience and on-the-job skills that will help propel them into successful careers. The programs goal is to inspire and motivate young people to achieve economic success, stability, and mobility through skills development and early career exploration in the tech industry. OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 5: Student and Family Events FCE brings their entire community of staff, families and students together to meet each other and celebrate the successes of the students supported by the programs offered. These events also include community partners, donors and alums that build support for the organization and take great pride in its impact on the community.
$97,640 spent9% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,062,143.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $1.9M to $4.3M (+127%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 2% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 11% · 2022 28% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
46% of FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Elizabeth Wells
Exec director
Board chair
Leila Jere
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 20 funders to 21 funders, grant income fell $864k → $752k.
17 of 58 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 66% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 58 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 31% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
70% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 31% · 2018 23% · 2019 28% · 2020 45% · 2021 24% · 2022 31% · 2023 23% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
54% of FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
66% of FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $2.9M that is directly attributable, 51% of it comes from funders outside California, across 9 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION is better cushioned than half of the 9,398 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION?
- FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION (California) receives grants from 58 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,574,469 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,679,480). 34 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION have?
- IRS filings report 58 organizations giving $8,574,469 in grants to FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION, 34 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $2,679,480 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FOUNDATION FOR A COLLEGE EDUCATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Foundation for a College Education →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 58 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing