Next Grant Cycle to Launch in Spring/Summer 2026
DENVER—The National Endowment for Financial Education® (NEFE®) has selected five projects, an organizational record for a single grant cycle, to receive more than $600,000 in total funding for projects related to financial education. These latest grantees represent a broad range of work being pursued and examined by higher education institutions.
“The high-quality research projects that we select for funding are those that seek to improve access and respond to the critical questions and challenges facing our field. We received many outstanding concepts from our latest round of proposals that focus on key gaps in addressing financial education delivery,” says Billy Hensley, Ph.D., president and CEO of NEFE. “We are excited to collaborate with these outstanding academic teams, whose projects have significant potential to contribute thoughtful and deliberate insight that will better serve the well-being of all Americans.
Gallaudet University received $246,234 for “Fostering Financial Literacy Equity: Bridging Linguistic Gaps in Deaf Education.” This two-phased project examines the effectiveness of an American Sign Language (ASL)-first bilingual instructional approach in improving financial literacy comprehension among Deaf high school students.
“We are honored to partner with NEFE, whose commitment to inclusive and research-based financial education aligns deeply with our work in Deaf education and community. With NEFE’s support, we will develop and test an ASL-first financial literacy glossary and learning resources that give Deaf youth equitable, language-accessible tools for understanding and managing their finances,
- says Yauheni Koraneu, CPA, assistant professor in accounting.
“Financial Education Channels and Well-Being Priorities in Indigenous Communities,” a project being conducted by Chaminade University of Honolulu, will explore how individuals acquire financial knowledge and how different educational channels, such as formal schooling, family socialization and community influence, relate to financial knowledge, behaviors, financial health and well-being priorities. The project received $128,000.
“We are excited to partner with NEFE and to contribute to the human-centered Personal Finance Ecosystem by bringing evidence and voices from Asian American, Native American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and multiracial communities into the national conversation to support a more holistic and equity-driven understanding of financial education in the United States. By collaborating with these culturally distinctive communities, we will gain a better understanding of how diverse educational channels, both formal and informal, together with cultural values and practices shape people’s financial knowledge, behaviors and priorities for financial well-being,
- says Guanlin Gao, Ph.D., associate professor of economics and director of the Economic Education Center for Excellence, Chaminade University of Honolulu.
The team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Financial Security received $127,645 for “Assessing the Credit Consequences of Justice Involvement for Families.” This project will examine the financial challenges faced by individuals released from state and federal prisons, as well as their families.
“My research team and I are grateful for NEFE’s support for this project to better understand the financial security of people involved in the justice system and their families. We are hopeful this work can inform re-entry programs and other strategies to build the financial capability of people as they return to communities and ultimately work toward improving their financial well-being. NEFE's expertise provides us a critical partnership to make this engaged research project a reality,
- says J. Michael Collins, professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Institute for Research on Poverty.
The Society for Financial Education & Professional Development (SFEPD) was awarded $100,000 for “Ripple Effects: Studying the Diffusion of Financial Education at HBCUs.” This study examines the impact of financial education interventions on historically Black college and university (HBCU) students who face systematic inequality. Students will receive financial education and be encouraged to share their knowledge with others, thereby spreading positive personal finance outcomes across their social networks. This project is being co-funded with the FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) Investor Education Foundation.
“The title of our study, ‘Ripple Effects,’ reflects our goal of understanding how financial education may multiply outward through the networks of HBCU students. As an oversight professor with the SFEPD, I see firsthand the dedication our SFEPD Student Ambassadors bring to delivering high-quality financial education in their communities. At the same time, as a researcher, I am interested in understanding how this engagement affects the ambassadors themselves and whether the knowledge they gain flows outward to their families, friends and broader social networks. The study will examine the impact of direct interventions and their ripple effects in addressing Black systemic economic inequality. We are grateful for NEFE’s support, which makes it possible to explore these important questions, which inform financial education efforts nationwide,
- says Inger Daniels-Hollar, Ph.D., oversight professor for SFEPD’s Student Ambassador Program at Florida A&M University.
The University of California (UC) Berkeley will receive $35,000 for “Dollars and Sense—Self-Selection in Financial Literacy Education,” a project that studies self-selection in financial literacy education—specifically, whether individuals correctly value and choose to invest in financial education.
“We’re thrilled to have NEFE’s support on this project and to be a part of the broader NEFE ecosystem. We believe this project, which examines selection patterns in who chooses to invest in financial literacy education, aligns perfectly with NEFE’s commitment to rigorous, unbiased financial literacy research. Receiving this grant is an incredible opportunity to contribute to a mission we deeply admire,
- says Elaine Shen, Ph.D. candidate in economics at UC Berkeley.
Eligible organizations interested in pursuing grant funding for a current or future project can apply when NEFE opens its next grant cycle in spring/summer 2026. NEFE began awarding research grants in 2006 and has now funded 53 projects, allocating over $7.6 million for rigorous, innovative and actionable research that increases the field’s body of knowledge, provides insight into financial behavior and contributes to a better understanding of effective educational practices. Completed and published projects are available as resource material for current and future research projects.
Read more on NEFE’s research funding priorities and strategy.
