For foundations and grant programs

The gap we fund

Nearly 70 percent of college students work while enrolled, and about 6 million of them come from low-income families.¹ Research positions are often unpaid and take hours outside class, so they go to students who can afford to give those hours away.² We pay the cost so a student who earned the position can take it.

Why it is a good use of grant money

• The intervention is cheap and bounded. One grant covers a known number of students for a known number of weeks.
• The outcome is observable. The student took the position or did not. The work was published or was not.
• The evidence base is strong. Sustained research predicts finishing a science degree and staying in science.³ Graduation gaps for low-income and first-generation students shrink or close among undergraduate researchers.⁴ Paid experience leads to more job offers and higher pay than unpaid experience.⁵
• Overhead is low. A small student team runs SRI with no advertising and no paid programs.

Where we fit

• Economic opportunity and mobility
• Workforce development in health and life sciences
• Science and health education
• Health equity, through the health inequality research we fund

What we can report

For each funded student: the position, the institution, the costs covered, the hours worked, and the output. In aggregate: students funded, campuses, fields, and publications. See what partners receive.

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