Foundation for a College Education

What Foundation for a College Education does

Foundation for a College Education (FCE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1995 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, that delivers a multi-year college access and success pipeline for first-generation, low-income students of color from East Palo Alto and similar communities. Its core service offering consists of two interconnected programs — College Bound (high school cohort support from 9th through 12th grade covering A-G course completion, tutoring, SAT prep, college applications, financial aid guidance, and college tours) and College Success (post-secondary support through college graduation including academic counseling, transfer advising, internship guidance, and professional mentorship) — supplemented by CLEAR (career exploration), the STEM & Meta Summer Academy (13-year partnership with Meta), the Parents Program (family engagement), College Scholarships (persistence grants), and College Tours. FCE intentionally operates in small cohorts of 20–25 students per grade to enable personalized services, and all programs are delivered free of charge to participants.

FCE's business model is donation- and grant-funded rather than revenue-generating. The organization reports more than 500 supporters across individuals, families, donor-advised funds, community organizations, corporations, foundations, and the City of East Palo Alto, with major corporate partners including Salesforce, Meta, Cisco, JP Morgan Chase, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Amgen, and Wells Fargo. Additional revenue streams include foundation grants, legacy/planned giving via the Legacy Giving Circle, and proceeds from the annual March to Success gala. No specific revenue figures are disclosed in source materials, and FCE holds no proprietary technology systems beyond a standard WordPress-based website and email/newsletter infrastructure. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors (Chair Paul Resnick, Secretary Nadia Johnson, Treasurer Eric Richert) plus an Advisory Board, and operates under Executive Director Elizabeth Wells, JD, who was appointed in July 2022. FCE maintains a Candid Platinum transparency rating and has received external validation from the Lumina Foundation, Excelencia in Education (2022 Program to Watch), and the Educational Policy Institute.

Name

Foundation for a College Education

Legal name

Foundation for a College Education

Website

https://collegefoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Foundation for a College Education is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1995 that delivers a multi-year college access and success pipeline — from 9th grade through college graduation — to first-generation, low-income students of color from East Palo Alto, free of charge.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

East Palo Alto

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: FCE receives donations from individuals, families, and donor advised funds who support students from East Palo Alto and similar communities.
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Corporate partners including Salesforce, Meta, Cisco, JP Morgan Chase, and others provide financial support and program sponsorship.
3. Foundation Grants: Grants from foundations such as Chan Zuckerberg Initiative support FCE's programs and operations.
4. Legacy Giving/Planned Giving: Bequests, beneficiary designations, asset gifts (stock, real estate, donor-advised funds), and charitable trusts sustain long-term mission.
5. Annual Gala/Events: March to Success annual fundraising event with corporate and individual sponsors at various giving levels (Cum Laude, Graduates, Scholars).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Foundation for a College Education (FCE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers a multi-year college access and success pipeline for first-generation, low-income students of color from East Palo Alto and similar communities, free of charge. Core offerings include the College Bound high school program (grades 9-12) covering A-G course completion, SAT prep, college applications, financial aid guidance, and college tours, plus the College Success program supporting enrolled college students through graduation with academic counseling, career readiness, mentorship, and internship guidance. Programs are delivered in small cohorts of 20-25 students per grade and supplemented by CLEAR career exploration, the STEM & Meta Summer Academy, the Parents Program, College Scholarships, and College Tours.

Product overview

Foundation for a College Education (FCE) offers a comprehensive, multi-year college access and success program portfolio. The core offerings consist of College Bound (high school program, 9th-12th grade) and College Success (college student support), supplemented by specialized programs including CLEAR (career exploration), STEM & Meta Summer Academy (tech industry exposure), Parents Program (family engagement), College Scholarships (persistence grants), and College Tours. These programs work together as a unified pipeline: students join in high school through College Bound, receive ongoing support through College Success during college, while families engage through the Parents Program throughout. The organization also operates March to Success (annual gala) and Legacy Giving Circle (planned giving) as fundraising vehicles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• College Bound High school student program (grades 9-12) providing academic support, A-G course completion guidance, extracurricular and internship guidance, career exploration panels, one-on-one and group tutoring, SAT preparation, college application instruction and support, college tours in Northern and Southern California, financial aid and scholarship application guidance, and a student ambassador program for first-generation, low-income students of color.
• College Success College student support program offering college transition and orientation support, academic and personal advocacy counseling, career readiness and financial literacy workshops, transfer admission advising, internship/job guidance, professional mentorship program, and summer career and professional development conference for FCE alumni enrolled in Bachelor's degree programs.
• CLEAR (Career Learning, Exploration and Readiness) Career exploration and development program exposing students to diverse career paths and professional environments. Develops essential workplace skills through resume writing workshops, mock interviews, internship bootcamp, professional mentoring, networking skills development, and career panels delivered with corporate partners such as Cisco and Amgen.
• STEM & Meta Summer Academy Summer academy administered in partnership with Meta for 13 years, introducing local students to the tech industry and supporting STEM internship placements in engineering, biotech, and medicine for FCE students including approximately 25 STEM majors in the College Success cohort.
• Parents Program Parent leadership and family engagement program offering monthly family class meetings, the Parent Success Team, college access workshops, parent-to-parent shared experience opportunities, financial aid and scholarship guidance, individualized parent/student academic counseling sessions, and regular parent interactions with the Executive Director and Program Managers.
• College Scholarships Competitive scholarships awarded annually to high school seniors and college students, funded by individual and foundation donors. Scholarships serve as persistence grants supporting college retention and are available only to FCE students.
• College Tours College tour program offering visits to Northern and Southern California colleges and universities, helping FCE students differentiate between colleges and experience living away from home.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% of graduating high school seniors admitted to a 4-year college or university
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• uAspire: uAspire is a national nonprofit focused on financial aid advising and college affordability for low-income students. Directly comparable to FCE's financial aid guidance and college access focus, though operating at much larger national scale.
• College Track: College Track is a nonprofit that supports low-income and first-generation high school students through college graduation, with intensive cohort-based programming. It directly mirrors FCE's 9th-grade-through-graduation model and similar target student population.
• College Advising Corps: College Advising Corps places recent college graduates as near-peer advisers in underserved high schools to expand college access. Compares to FCE's high school advising component and first-generation student focus, though it operates via a school placement model rather than direct cohorts.
• Bottom Line: Bottom Line provides one-on-one college access and success advising to first-generation and low-income students from high school through degree completion. Closely comparable to FCE in mission, target demographic, and intensive advising model.
• iMentor: iMentor pairs low-income high school students with college-educated mentors for college access and persistence support, using curriculum-based mentoring. Compares to FCE's mentoring and college persistence components and similar target student base.
• Bright Prospect: Bright Prospect is a Southern California nonprofit supporting low-income, first-generation high school students through college graduation. Comparable to FCE in mission, cohort-based structure, and California geographic footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Questbridge: QuestBridge is a national nonprofit connecting high-achieving, low-income students to top colleges through scholarships and admissions support. Comparable target demographic and college access focus, but operating as a much broader national program rather than localized cohorts.

Regional players

• Eastside College Preparatory School: Eastside Prep is a Bay Area private school serving East Palo Alto students on track to a four-year college. Directly comparable as a regional educational partner serving FCE's same student community in East Palo Alto.

Emerging players

• College Spring: College Spring focuses on SAT prep and college advising for low-income and underrepresented students. Comparable to FCE's tutoring/SAT prep and college application support components, serving a similar population.
• ScholarMatch: ScholarMatch supports first-generation college students with advising and scholarships. Direct overlap with FCE's college access mission, scholarship offering, and target demographic, though smaller/national in scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fceinepa
• Facebookfacebook.com/FCEinEPA

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Foundation for a College Education