Gates Foundation Makes $2 Million Program-Related Investment in Inigral

From Philanthropy News Digest

Inigral, a for-profit education technology company, has announced a $2 million program-related investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop the Schools App, an educational social media application built on the Facebook platform.

The Schools App leverages Facebook to create affinity groups quickly and drive feelings of friendship and belonging among students during freshman orientation and the first year of college. The equity investment is part of its ongoing exploration of innovative approaches to education reform. The investment is part of a larger effort by the foundation to encourage education technology innovators to develop applications that enhance college and career readiness.

The Schools App seeks to address the low freshmen retention rates that plagues many colleges and universities — some of which lose as much as 50 percent of their first-year students by the end of the first year. The U.S. faces a growing employment problem as the graduation rate for colleges stagnates and the number of jobs requiring a postsecondary degree increases.

According to NPR, colleges and universities pay a fee for Inigral to build a site, which schools then recoup in the form of greater student engagement and higher retention rates. Still, the app can only contribute to improved retention rates if students use it.

"The foundation's investment in Inigral reflects our interest in supporting innovative education technology and approaches with the potential to improve student success - especially among students who are the first in their family to attend college," said Greg Ratliff, senior program officer for education and postsecondary success at the foundation. "Leveraging social media to facilitate a student's integration into academic and campus life is a promising approach toward improving college completion rates in the United States."

"Inigral Receives Program-Related Investment From the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.” Inigral Press Release 2/09/11.