Mission
The Nellie Mae Education Foundation promotes accessibility,
quality, and effectiveness of education, especially for
underserved populations, in the six New England states.
History
In 1990, the Nellie Mae Corporation, a nonprofit
education-financing company, created the Fund for Education,
pioneering philanthropy in the student-loan industry. Over the
next eight years, the Fund for Education would provide $5
million in grants to support and advance more than 300 education
programs throughout New England.
In 1998, the Nellie Mae Foundation was formed; the 1999 purchase
of Nellie Mae Corporation by SLM Holding Corporation (Sallie
Mae) created the endowment for what is now the Nellie Mae
Education Foundation.
Now unaffiliated with the Corporation, the Foundation is New
England’s largest public charity dedicated to improving academic
achievement for the region’s underserved communities.
From 2000 - 2007, it provided
grants and technical assistance to programs focused on improving
academic achievement in four strategic areas: Adult Literacy,
College Prep, Minority High Achievement, and Out-of-School Time
Matters!
As of 2008, the Foundation has realigned its strategic funding
priorities. It continues to provide grants and technical
assistance for strategies that support underserved learners, but
with an additional focus on building knowledge about how to
dramatically improve outcomes for the majority of New England's learners.
The Foundation’s new strategic initiatives are:
The Foundation also supports programs, organizations, research,
and conferences in order to influence policy, and advance
knowledge of public opinion toward education.
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