Woodward Hines Education Foundation: Elevating Mississippi Through Education
Introduction
The Woodward Hines Education Foundation (WHEF) stands as a pivotal force in Mississippi's educational landscape, dedicated to bridging the gap between talent and opportunity. Since its grantmaking inception in 2016, WHEF has operated under the guiding principle that partnerships are essential when resources are limited and needs are significant. WHEF is laser focused on accelerating the percentage of Mississippians with postsecondary degrees. WHEF seeks “to expand equitable access to and completion of postsecondary credentials, certificates, and degrees that lead to meaningful employment for more Mississippians.”
A Partner, Not Just a Funder
What distinguishes WHEF is its unique approach: functioning as a partner as much as a funder. This involves offering technical assistance, encouraging collaborative learning among its grantees, and collaboratively developing solutions when challenges arise. WHEF's strategies are informed by field insights, data analysis, and the identification of areas where resources can have the most significant impact. The foundation actively seeks out initiatives with long-term potential and supports grantees in developing the capacity to sustain and expand their efforts.
Strategic Priorities and Initiatives
WHEF’s grantmaking is diverse, ranging from FAFSA completion initiatives and Advanced Placement curriculum for students in rural areas to developmental education redesign and statewide coordination for the Ascent to 55% goal. The foundation’s grants reach a diverse set of learners and institutions-including through Achieving the Dream: Mississippi and partnerships with HBCUs and rural community colleges.
Ascent to 55%
Ascent to 55% is Mississippi’s statewide goal to increase the number of working-age adults with a postsecondary degree or credential to 55% by 2030 and 60% by 2035. For WHEF, it’s more than a number-it’s a vision that guides our investments in students, institutions, and systems that expand opportunity and strengthen the state’s workforce. WHEF announced a five year strategic plan (2023-2028) centered around achieving Ascent to 55%, Mississippi’s postsecondary attainment goal that seeks 55% of Mississippians having obtained degrees and credentials beyond high school by 2030, “including four-year bachelor’s degree, two-year associate degree, and short term certificate and credential programs.”
WHEF’s Theory of Change outlines this funder’s roadmap for change for 2023 to 2028.
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Student Services and Support Grants
Student services and support grants “will be predicated on colleges and universities initiating or enhancing specific, high leverage services and supports for currently enrolled students”.
Postsecondary Exposure and Identity Grants
Postsecondary exposure and identity grants target “not only exposure for high school students (the earlier, the better) to colleges across Mississippi via campus visits, so that they can literally ‘see’ themselves at college, but also ensuring that K12 districts and institutions of higher education help attending students see a pathway to college, especially understanding the academic and administrative steps to get there”.
Issue Area Acceleration Grants
Issue area acceleration grants “emphasize innovation and emerging opportunities to make a positive impact in issue areas aligned to WHEF’s ultimate and intermediate outcomes,” ultimately representing a smaller but still meaningful chunk of WHEF’s grantmaking.
Persistence and Completion
WHEF supports efforts that increase the likelihood of degree or credential attainment. WHEF prioritizes funding community college student retention and completion.
Mississippi State University Foundation Example: In 2022, WHEF awarded a $50,000 grant to the Mississippi State University Foundation to recruit and retain underrepresented students in the College of Forest Resources (CFR). In 2024, WHEF provided an additional $50,000 grant to build on the effort’s early success, deepening the impact of this work.
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The CFR equips graduates for in-demand careers in forestry, timber management, wildlife and fisheries biology, conservation, and environmental science-fields where Mississippi offers abundant opportunities for family-sustaining work. Nearly every degree program reports 100% job placement, yet the pipeline of graduates remains too small to meet employer demand. Diversity in these professions is also limited, with fewer than 3% of conservation scientists nationally identifying as minorities.
WHEF’s support is helping to change that trajectory. From fall 2022 to fall 2024, non-white enrollment in CFR increased by 26%, including a 13.6% increase among Black students.
Get2College
Amid the Ascent to 55% strategic push, WHEF still hosts a signature program, Get2College (G2C), which provides college access services in Jackson, Ocean Springs, and Southaven. Mississippi’s most impactful college access program, Get2College provides free, personalized support to students and families navigating the complex steps to higher education.
Focus on Equitable Access
A core principle of WHEF is focusing on removing barriers and closing gaps-especially for students who face the greatest obstacles to opportunity.
First-Generation Students
Being the first in your family to attend college is a powerful milestone-and a complex journey. Nationally, research indicates a significant gap in completion rates between first-generation and continuing-generation students, with completion rates at 24% vs. 59%, respectively. In other words, first-generation students are less than half as likely as their continuing-generation peers to earn a college degree. In Mississippi, first-generation students account for more than 56% (roughly 92,000) of the 164,500+ students enrolled across the state's 32 institutions.
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Military-Connected Learners
Veterans, active-duty service members, and their families deserve clear, flexible pathways to education and career advancement.
Rural Learners
Geography shouldn’t limit opportunity.
Justice-Impacted Learners
WHEF believes in second chances and the transformative power of education.
Grantmaking with a Purpose
Every grant WHEF makes is a strategic investment in Mississippi’s future. WHEF invites information about grant seekers’ work related to two-year, four-year, apprenticeship, and certification programs.
WHEF’s education grants prioritize investments in minority students, as well as the gap between postsecondary credentials and job skills. In this light, WHEF’s education grants intersect with work development grants because some support intends to “strengthen postsecondary alignment with workforce needs, build relationships with business and industry to align curricula to meet job demands, connect students with work skills, and provide learn-and-earn opportunities. Increased college access, college persistence, and college completion are all important to this funder.
Grant Eligibility and Application
Grant eligibility requires organizations to serve communities in Mississippi and demonstrate impact to increase postsecondary access, persistence and attainment. However, grants are not generally made to K-8 programs, high school drop-out programs, athletic events, music trips, fundraisers, or individuals requesting scholarship assistance. Grant applications are by invitation only. Don’t hesitate to contact WHEF with questions.
Research and Learning
WHEF connects data with lived experience to drive decisions that make a difference.
Policy and Systems Change
WHEF doesn’t just invest in programs-it changes the systems behind them. Working alongside partners such as Accelerate Mississippi and the Mississippi Economic Council, WHEF support practical, equity-driven strategies that help more Mississippians enroll, persist, and complete.
Impact and Accountability
WHEF is committed to transparency and accountability. Every two years, WHEF publish an Impact Report that shares our progress, outcomes, and lessons learned. The report highlights how our work-across direct service, grantmaking, partnerships, and advocacy-is helping Mississippi move closer to its statewide attainment goal, Ascent to 55%. The Impact Report reflects more than numbers.
Strategic Plan: Elevating Mississippi to a Higher Degree
WHEF’s 2023-2028 Strategic Plan, Elevating Mississippi to a Higher Degree, sharpens WHEF’s focus on helping more Mississippians access, persist in, and complete education beyond high school-and connect that achievement to family-sustaining careers. The plan is anchored in Ascent to 55%, Mississippi’s statewide goal for 55 percent of working-age adults to hold a postsecondary credential by 2030.
WHEF's History and Evolution
Established in 1995, the Woodward Hines Education Foundation (WHEF) is based in Jackson, Mississippi, and supports postsecondary education in Mississippi. This is the foundation of Jack Woodward, who created a secondary market for student loans in the state, as banks were reluctant to provide such loans. Woodward teamed up with J. Herman Hines and created the Mississippi Higher Education Assistance Corporation and later the Education Services Foundation in 1995. The foundation’s current name was announced in 2017 to honor the work of these two men.
Recent Initiatives and Investments
First-Gen Forward Grant: The Woodward Hines Education Foundation (WHEF) is funding a five-year $1.5 million grant to First-Gen Forward, the leading organization for first-generation student success. The grant from WHEF will enable the organization to expand the FirstGen Forward Network in Mississippi from four institutions to 23 by 2030, focusing on the 15 institutions in the Mississippi Community College Board system and all Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the state.
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