The Importance of Grants at Universities
Grants are a fundamental part of university life. They affect all levels of a university's operations, from individual students to whole academic departments. Without grants, America's higher education system could not be the world-class juggernaut that it is today. One of the first lessons in the inner workings of a university is to understand how its activities are facilitated by, and built around, grants.
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Grants for Students
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A college education is a vital gateway to a lifetime of increased economic opportunity. Perhaps even more importantly, a college education can provide an individual with a fuller, more satisfying understanding of self and world. Many aspiring college students simply do not have the money to pursue a degree, and are unable or unwilling to take out loans to pay tuition. For many of these people, grants---in the form of academic scholarships---are their only hope.
Grants for Projects
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Some universities carry out research for the benefit of science and industry. Not only is this research an engine of economic innovation and a key contributor to the sum of human knowledge, but the activity of research can produce extensive economic benefits at the local level as universities hire people to carry out the research. Such jobs are usually well-paying and highly skilled, with clear economic benefits as these individuals put that money back into the economy. Grants are the cornerstone of university research. Rather than being directly funded by university coffers, most research programs subsist greatly or entirely on outside grants from government and industry. Because the research does not usually produce immediate profits, it takes a forward-looking investment like a grant to get the whole process started. Without grants, neither the research nor its benefits would be possible.
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Grants for Programs, Faculty and Staff
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Within universities, the various colleges, schools and departments that comprise the university do not necessarily receive their entire operating budgets from the university itself. Outside grants also tend to make up a significant portion of the budget. This enables academic programs and departments to expand and diversify their operations, upgrade their equipment and facilities, deliver a higher-quality and more specialized education to students, and attract national prestige, all of which help to achieve financial sustainability and promote academic excellence.
Grants for Universities
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Universities require substantial funds to operate. In the 2000s and into the current decade, university endowments have withered due to stock market downturns and economic recession. State funding for public universities has declined precipitously as states have scaled back their budgets to resolve massive deficits. Additionally, more people have been enrolling in colleges in response to the sour economy, where jobs are scarce and more competitive. Grants have always comprised a substantial portion of most universities' operating budgets, but in hard economic times they become especially important as other funding sources dry up. Grants from private organizations and the federal government can make the difference between a university's ability to maintain its operations and having to scale back or even shut down.
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References
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