Make your field trip dreams a reality with our guide to funding opportunities in the Northwest U.S.
By Courtney Lind
The hands-on experiences and memories made during field trips are priceless. What isn’t priceless, however, is the cost associated with arranging student travel opportunities outside the classroom. At a time when costs are soaring for nearly everything, it can seem daunting to arrange student travel opportunities. But not to worry. There are plenty of grants and funding opportunities available on a local, regional and national basis to ensure that educators can provide their students with the out-of-classroom experiences that are critical to a well-rounded education.
In an effort to seek creative funding for your field trips, here are some resources around field trip grants to get you started. Remember to carefully read the requirements and guidelines for each grant to ensure that you are eligible and that your field trip fits within the parameters of the grant.
Local and Community Grants for Students
Many funding opportunities are offered within each state and often involve an application process prior to selection. Here are just a few great examples across the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic to get you started. Be sure to check out any local attractions or destinations of interest too, to see if they offer funding opportunities for school groups.
- Connecticut: Connecticut Space Grant Consortium – The NASA CTSGC awards K-12 field trip scholarships for aeronautics, aerospace and STEM-related activities to specific locations including the New England Air Museum, Connecticut Science Center, Van Vleck Observatory, SHU Discovery Museum and more.
Delaware: Delaware Division of the Arts – The TranspARTation grant assists Delaware schools with transportation costs (up to $500) to attend arts and cultural events such as performances, events and exhibits throughout the state.- Maryland: The Maryland Center for History and Culture – This organization plays a crucial role in preserving Maryland’s diverse heritage and provides a variety of grants to help make its programs accessible to students.
- Massachusetts: Local Cultural Council (LCC) Program – The LCC is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, and every year it awards more than $7 million to 7,500+ cultural programs that includes field trips to engage students in local arts and culture.
- New Hampshire: We NHEED to Get Outside Grant – This grant aims to provide students with hands-on, experiential outdoor learning opportunities. To date, over $55k in funding has been awarded to applicants, supporting experiences that involve observation and exploration in the beauty of the outdoors.
- New Jersey: Field Trip New Jersey – This transportation-specific grant helps offset bus costs to low-income schools across the state by providing recipients with funding up to $700 per field trip.
- New York: The Connect-Kids-to-Parks Field Trip Grant Program – Designed to connect students with history and nature, this grant accepts applications on a rolling basis. It offers a generous reimbursement of up to $80 per students for field trips to historic sites, federal parks, outdoor recreation areas and more.
- Rhode Island: Rhode Island State Council on the Arts – The organization, in partnership with the Big Yellow School Bus Program, offers grants to K-12 schools to help cover the cost of transportation to arts-related field trips.
- Across the Region: The American Battlefield Trust – With so many incredible historic sites in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, it makes sense to include them in your field trip plans. The American Battlefield Trust helps K-12 educators fund field trips to Civil War, War of 1812 or Revolutionary War battlefields or related sites.
Many funding opportunities target specific subject areas, such as programs dedicated to helping students explore the great outdoors. Photo by rtravelalot/Shutterstock.com
National Foundation Grants for Teachers
Foundations across the country offer support for educators and new opportunities continue to arise year after year. Check out these offerings below for some of the current field trip grants offered on a national scale.
- The NEA Foundation Student Success Grants – The NEA Foundation wants to support educators engaging students in project-based and deeper learning to support the development of skills and dispositions contributing to success and fulfillment in a changing world. Grants between $1,500 and $5,000 are available for a period of 12 months from the date of the award.
- Voya Unsung Heroes – The Unsung Heroes program has helped thousands of K-12 educators fund innovative classroom and out-of-classroom projects such as field trips. To date, nearly $5 million in grant money has been awarded.
- Space Center Houston Title 1 Program — Under this program, Title 1 schools may request funding to supplement the price of a field trip ticket, while funds are available. This can offer savings of up to 76% off full-price admission.
- The Road Scholarship Program – Offered by the SYTA Youth Foundation, this grant helps to cover travel costs related to field trips and student learning.
- State Farm® Community Grants – State Farm® offers yearly grants that help educators who are committed to helping build safer, stronger and better-educated communities. These grants can be put toward field trips and other out-of-classroom activities.
- Toshiba America Foundation – For those in the fields of science and math, Toshiba America grants help to support teacher-designed projects across a variety of grade levels.
- Melinda Gray Ardia Environmental Foundation – This grant program is ideal for educators looking to enhance their environmental curriculum, providing support for integrated field activities, classroom teaching and problem solving.
- You can also branch out and check with associations that are relevant to your subject area, such as the National Science Teachers Association or the National Council for the Social Studies. Be sure to check with your school’s PTA or other similar organizations, as they often have fundraising efforts and may be able to provide field trip grants for students.
General and Corporate Grants for Students
Funding and grants change from year to year. Some may be available only once, while others continue year after year. To stay on top of current offerings we recommend checking out a grants database such as Grants.gov. This comprehensive database of federal grants allows you to search using a host of parameters to narrow your search or just browse in the field of educational grants. You can also try websites such as GrantsAlert.com, GetEdFunding.com, GrantWatch.com, DonorsChoor.org or AdoptAClassroom.org, which will allow you to create a fundraising campaign for your classroom to put toward field trips. Or simply head to Google, which is a great practice to stay on top of the ever-changing world of field trip grants, and search using terms such as “field trip grants for students” or “field trip funding in [my state].” You can also look for corporate grants, as many large corporations such as Costco, Walmart and Target provide funding to support education, including field trips.
National Free Days & Free Admission to Attractions for Student Field Trips
Be sure to check out special offers for student groups as well as any “free days” happening near you. For local national parks, monuments or museums, take advantage of National Parks Free Days to explore the great outdoors with students. And under the Every Kid Outdoors program, all fourth graders get a pass for free admission into national parks for the year. This includes the family members of the student. On a local level, check out if the museums, performance venues or cultural centers in your area offer any free admission days for students throughout the school year.
There are countless field trip grants and assistance programs available for educators, ranging from broad in scope to highly specialized. If you plan well in advance and spend a bit of time researching the opportunities that are available, it can reap great rewards for both you and your students.
TOP PHOTO: A variety of funding opportunities make it possible to spread your student activity budget. Photo by ungvar/Shutterstock.com
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