The US Department of Education’s (DOE) Promise Neighborhoods program awards place-based planning and implementation grants for the development of services and opportunities for children and their families living in distressed neighborhoods. Less than a third of these grants have been awarded to institutions of higher education. Drawing from interviews with grantee leads, this brief examines the experiences of six university- and college-based Promise Neighborhoods and highlights insights for similarly situated current and future grantees. Our analysis focuses on the location of Promise Neighborhoods grants within institutions, establishment of strong partnership agreements, processes for data gathering and reporting, and institutions’ relationships with the Promise Neighborhood communities.

Key takeaways for colleges and universities interested in pursuing Promise Neighborhoods grants include the following:

• Establish a solid foundation for implementation through early planning efforts.
• Focus on the communities and their needs rather than prioritizing research or institutional agendas.
• Develop support from institutional leadership.
• Work toward sustainability of efforts from the start.