Updates on 5 Key Gates Foundation Programs

NUTRITION

Over the next six years, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation plans to invest $776 million to combat poor nutrition in countries around the world. The effort will start in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and India, countries where Gates is already working.

HIGHER EDUCATION

High on the agenda: Advancing ideas that make colleges and universities more affordable. Gates also hopes to reduce drop-out rates by helping schools use technology and a newly developed mix of course selections that can help part-time students stay on track with their studies. Most recently, the foundation has pushed to simplify the financial-aid application process.

MILLENNIUM SCHOLARS

This fall, the grant maker plans to announce a new scholarship program designed to link scholars to one another, with the goal of building a global network. The organization won’t provide any details on what sort of financial commitment it will make, but the scholarships will replace Gates’s Millennium Scholars program, which will end next year after reaching its goal of helping 20,000 minority college students. Since 1999, Gates has provided $1.6 billion to the effort.

EARLY-CHILDHOOD LEARNING

Over the next four years, Gates plans to spend roughly $90 million to expand preschool programs nationally, with an emphasis on serving low-income families and minorities. The work builds on pre-kindergarten programs Gates has supported in Washington State since 2005.

GRAND CHALLENGES

Gates is asking nonprofits to suggest ideas for groundbreaking research on three causes: improving children’s health, putting the needs of women and girls first in new development projects, and making newly developed vaccines and medicines more affordable and broadly available. That is the latest phase of its Grand Challenges, started in 2003, which has provided more than $450 million to support scientific research and other causes.