Financial Education Programming Mini Grant: Call for Applications
 

Round 2, Applications Due: June 9, 2025; We will accept applications on a rolling basis until June 9, 2025.
Submission Link
 

Overview

The Foundation for Colorado Community Colleges has partnered with the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) to fund studies that enhance personal financial education projects for Colorado Community College System students (for-credit or non-credit), faculty, and staff. This program intends to provide knowledge, confidence, and an opportunity to live one’s best financial life. The funding period begins August 1, 2025 and extends to December 18, 2026. CCCS has $195,000 to award in round 2. The maximum amount awarded to each college is $20,000 to be used throughout the funding period. Personal financial education, for the purpose of this grant, is inclusive of the following categories: Personal Banking, Earning, Budgeting, Saving, Spending, Credit, and Investments.

Allowable Uses of Funding
 
Financial intervention projects must support the enrichment of financial education in someone’s personal and daily life. Funding can be used to support the following:
 
1. Implementation and/or PLA of the CCCS Financial Education Microcredential.
2. Workshops or events highlighting, implementing or describing financial education principles: how to save, spending wisely, understanding credit, how careers impact financial decisions, budgeting importance, tips for investing, choosing the right bank, etc.
3. Workshops or events addressing mental health issues pertaining to financial education.
4. Extensions or expansions of existing financial education programming or pathways.
5. Supporting the services offered through a 3rd party financial wellness programs such as:
a. Tax Help Colorado
b. Financial Planning Association
c. Intuit Personal Finance Certification
6. Creation or extension of a financial education resource library for students and/or staff.
7. Professional development for community college faculty and/or staff.
8. Creation of a Student Ambassador Financial Education Program.
 
There are many financial decisions students make during their life. We would like to offer programming beyond student loan understanding and help. Applicants are encouraged to think about the wholistic financial health of a student. This is not an exhaustive list and applicants are encouraged to submit their own ideas within the application.
 
Eligibility
Any staff or faculty employed by one of the colleges within the Colorado Community College System may apply for this funding.

Quarterly and Final Reporting
 
Colleges receiving funding will be required to meet regularly about program updates and project implementation. Quarterly Reports will be collected throughout the funding period. The Quarterly Reporting due dates are as follows:
 

September 30, 2025
December 18, 2025
April 30, 2026
July 15, 2026

September 30, 2026

The Final Report would be due: December 18, 2026

Each report should include the information requested in the report template provided at the end of this document. Qualitative and quantitative data will be requested to demonstrate the impact of college projects. Please do not provide any personal identifiable information because all reports and data will be shared with external funding partners and 3rd party evaluators. The external evaluator may be interested in conducting student focus groups and/or interviews to gather more specific data about the learning outcomes. 

Application Requirements

Please submit all applications to Submittable by 5pm MT by June 9, 2025. We will accept applications on a rolling basis until June 9, 2025. 

Link to submit applications: https://cccs.submittable.com/submit/35203857-8db7-41f1-afe0-e076d1874609/nefe-mini-grant-applications 

PROJECT SUMMARY (750 words or less)

If the college is interested in supporting more than 1 project, please clearly identify funding specifics for each project. 

· Describe the intervention project, population served, and the project’s impact on financial education.

· Identify the college stakeholders and their roles within the project. Clearly identify the main point of contact for funding projects. 

· Describe how the project’s impact will be measured.

· Sustainability

o Will this project be maintained and continued past the funding period? If yes, describe how maintenance will be achieved.

o Is this project a one-time event? If yes, describe how the impact data will help with future plans. 

· Describe the project timeline, including key milestones and a plan for when/how the team will execute the project.

· Describe how the project will be advertised within the school community and participation encouraged. 

BUDGET SUMMARY (500 words or less)

· Explain the requested funding amount, project costs, and provide any relevant vendor quotes.

· A table format is included in the application. The budget template is provided at the end of this document.

· The maximum amount of funding each college can request is $20,000 to be spent throughout the funding period. 

LETTER OF SUPPORT

· Financial completion incentives and outreach materials are an allowable expense. However, these materials must be purchased in partnership with your internal college Foundation. A letter of partnership support from the college Foundation is required with the application. The letter needs to outline:

o The approximate amount they will spend

o The proposed items they will purchase

o Agreement to manage the purchasing, receiving and distribution of the items

o Agreement to complete spending by Dec 2026

Apply Now

Application Evaluation

 Applications will be evaluated to ensure they meet the objectives of the funding provided. Follow-up interviews may take place with the applicants for clarification or to suggest amendments. 

 Timeline

Applications due (We will accept applications on a rolling basis until June 9, 2025): June 9, 2025

Funding recipients notified (or before): August 1, 2025

Projects completed: Dec 18, 2026

Final data reported: Dec 18, 2026

Questions?

Technical Assistance meetings can be arranged if there are any questions about funding projects. Contact the CCCS and NEFE team at: Chelsea.Campbell@cccs.edu. We’re here to help and support project applications throughout the entire process!