A Look at the Trellis Foundation’s Work to Reduce Barriers to Success for College Students
/
Ten Texas higher ed institutions received support as part of Trellis’ Postsecondary Mental Health & Wellbeing Learning Community. Photo: University of College/shutterstock
One of the big themes that emerged in IP’s State of American Philanthropy survey on giving for higher education was the degree to which funders prioritize support for student access and success. Grantmakers want to ensure that students — especially first-generation students — get into college and have the tools they need to thrive. To do that, they need to identify and remediate specific barriers to entry and success.
It’s against this backdrop that the Trellis Foundation, based in Round Rock, Texas, has carved out a distinctive niche for itself by supporting postsecondary programs, practices and systems to reduce disparities and encourage success for low-income students and students of color across the state. Its programs tackle barriers that affect the broader student population, like insufficient access to mental health services, as well as those facing specific demographics, like formerly incarcerated students and student parents.
Tying it all together is the belief that these efforts must be supplemented with efforts to shape public policy. To this end, the foundation convenes policymakers around issues related to student success, supports organizations advocating for policy change and funds policy fellowships for students of color.
Here are a few things to know about the Trellis Foundation.
It launched a two-year mental health learning community
The Trellis Foundation was established in 2017 by the Trellis Company, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation that serves as a student loan guarantor. The company committed more than $400 million to charitable causes from 2006 and 2016.
At the end of the fiscal year ending September 2022, the Trellis Foundation had $362 million in net assets, up from $256 million the previous year. It disbursed $4 million in grants in 2022 and 2021. The foundation’s 2022 annual report lists 27 grant recipients, including Paul Quinn College, Amarillo College and Angelo State University, community foundations and the occasional national group, like the National College Attainment Network.
The two largest grants that year, at $350,000 and $300,000, flowed to the Dallas-based Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute (MMPHI) in support of a two-year collaborative initiated by the Trellis Foundation, aimed at reshaping how Texas higher education institutions support student and mental health.
MMHPI was established in 2014 with an initial $8.5 million from the Dallas-based Meadows Foundation to identify effective mental health policies and programs across Texas. Last September, IP’s Wendy Paris chatted with Meadows Foundation President and CEO Peter Miller. Alluding to the institute’s backstory, Miller said, “Nobody talked about mental health then. Here we are, 10 years later, and it’s top of mind with the state legislature and in communities.” Paris noted that since its launch, the institute has successfully lobbied state legislators to pass 115 of the 127 legislative and agency priorities it proposed.
The approach resonated with the Trellis Foundation’s leaders, who tapped the institute as its mental health collaborative’s lead convener, technical assistance provider and regrantor. The initiative, called the Postsecondary Mental Health & Wellbeing Learning Community, has three components. First, a cohort of 10 learning community members — consisting of four- and two-year colleges across Texas — are awarded grant funding to develop their mental health programming and support. Then they receive technical assistance from statewide partners, including MMHPI, the Jed Foundation and others. Lastly, grantees join a two-year collaborative learning network to share best practices that will inform the institute’s policy recommendations.
In July 2022, the foundation announced its 2022 Mental Health and Wellbeing grant cohort. One recipient, San Jacinto College, received $195,775 and planned to use the money to roll out a survey exploring mental health, service utilization and related issues among students, to create an awareness campaign highlighting the college’s mental health services, and to expand its staff of counselors.
It aims to change policy
After announcing its 2022 Mental Health and Wellbeing grants, the Trellis Foundation and MMHPI published “Navigating the Mental Health Provider Shortage in Higher Education,” the first of four briefs laying out learnings from the cohort. It centers policy-driven recommendations to address the mental health provider shortage and build “multifaceted mental health systems.” On April 19, the foundation will convene policymakers, nonprofit staff and philanthropy leaders at its third annual postsecondary policy summit in Austin to develop policy recommendations gleaned from the learning community’s work.
Trellis’ proactive approach towards addressing student mental health needs reflects its broader focus on “changing or informing change to policy, practice and systems.” When it’s not identifying promising policies through its mental health learning cohort, the Trellis Foundation is supporting organizations pushing for policy change. For instance, in 2022, it gave $101,000 to the Education Trust of Texas to advance equity justice policy, and $100,000 to the Texas Tribune to inform policymakers on education access and completion issues for low-income students and students of color.
Supporting policy fellowships to achieve systems change is another facet of the foundation’s work. For example, it provided a grant supporting policy fellows with San Antonio’s Intercultural Development Research Association, through which two students helped shape Texas’ COVID-19 policy during the 2021 legislative session. And last December, the foundation announced $1 million in total awards to four advocacy nonprofits to support the participation of Texas college students in policy fellowship programs.
It aims to reduce barriers for incarcerated students and parents
In addition to its support for mental health services, the foundation tackles other impediments to student success by focusing on challenges facing distinct demographics. The first is formerly incarcerated students. Upon being released from prison, these individuals often face a litany of obstacles that inhibit their ability to complete their degree, such as having to work full time, as well as housing and transportation shortfalls.
In January, the foundation announced it gave $250,000 to the Lee College Foundation to launch a collaborative program called “Pathways from Prison to Postsecondary Education” to help students complete their college degrees and certificates once they are released from prison. The program will provide a range of support services, such as placing a reentry specialist at the college’s Baytown campus to assist formerly incarcerated students.
Another important demographic for the foundation is student parents. According to the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT), insufficient child care options are a significant barrier for 1.7 million parents who are attending college. Most of these individuals are women and nearly all of them have incomes at or near the poverty line. For many of these parents, it’s difficult if not impossible to succeed if they cannot find reliable and affordable child care.
In February, Trellis provided $500,000 for what ACCT President and CEO Jee Hang Lee called an “elegant solution” to this dilemma. Launched in partnership with the National Head Start Association, ACCT’s five-year Kids on Campus will expand child care for student parents by establishing Head Start centers at community college campuses across the country. Other contributing foundations include the ECMC Foundation, Pierre and Pam Omidyar’s Imaginable Futures and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
For Texas nonprofits looking to get on its radar, the Trellis Foundation encourages organizations to fill out a project idea form. If staff believes there is alignment, they will request more information. Organizations can also sign up for the foundation’s quarterly newsletter to learn about news, grant announcements and funding opportunities.
