(LINCOLN Neb. July 14, 2004) - EducationQuest Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a mission to improve access to higher education in Nebraska, is encouraging statewide community agencies to apply for its community grants.

EducationQuest annually disburses approximately $350,000 to community agencies whose programs increase the likelihood that participants will go to college. Examples of eligible programs include:

• those that support academic success;
• mentoring programs;
• programs that help nontraditional students access college; and
• after-school programs for at-risk youth.

EducationQuest awards community grants three times a year. The deadline to submit letters of intent for the next grant cycle is August 1, 2004.

Detailed information about EducationQuest’s Community Grants Program is available at www.educationquest.org/grants.asp, or by contacting Eric Drumheller at 402-479-6622 or 800-303-3745.

In June, EducationQuest awarded grant funding to these organizations:

• Girl Scouts-Great Plains Council in Omaha received $30,000 to support and expand the Young Women’s Club - a program at Benson High School, Monroe Middle School and McMillan Magnet Middle School that promotes higher education opportunities for at-risk female teenagers.
• Girls Incorporated of Omaha received $25,000 to support Operation D.O.R.M. (Dreams, Opportunity & Reality Meet) - a combined after-school and summer program that focuses on academics and college and career exploration for minority, low-income girls from single-parent homes in north Omaha.
• Lincoln Medical Education Partnership received $30,000 for its rural Pathways to Self-Sufficiency through Education program, which strives to increase access to higher education for victims of domestic abuse in selected rural Nebraska communities.
• The Lincoln Literacy Council received $11,500 for its Project for Higher Education Mentoring. This program serves individuals who speak English but need help improving their basic reading, writing and math skills to increase the likelihood they will enroll in college.
• YWCA of Lincoln received $15,000 for Survival Skills, a program that helps at-risk youth prepare for high school graduation, postsecondary education, independent living and employment.

EducationQuest Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization with a mission to improve access to higher education in Nebraska. Through a permanent endowment, EducationQuest provides free college planning services at its locations in Kearney, Lincoln and Omaha; funds need-based scholarship programs; and supports community organizations that enhance college access. For more information, call EducationQuest Foundation, headquartered in Lincoln, at 800-303-3745 or visit www.educationquest.org.