Driven by the belief that every student deserves the chance to get a high-quality education, no matter where they live or how much their family makes, Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Education program works to expand access to educational opportunities, from kindergarten through high school, to college and career training, and beyond.
Advancing K-12 Education
Bloomberg Philanthropies works with partners to promote a stronger model of public education — one based on evidence, centered on students, and governed by accountability and high standards. In 2021, we deepened our commitment to this work by launching an ambitious effort to expand access to high-quality public charter schools across the country, with the goal of adding 150,000 new seats by the end of 2026. In 2025, we surpassed this goal. To date, we have helped create over 158,900 charter school seats, with more on the way.
Students at Mundo Verde, a bilingual charter school in Washington, D.C., practicing their math and reading skills.
Expanding Summer Learning Opportunities
Originally designed to address pandemic-related learning loss, our Summer Boost program helps ensure that rising first- to ninth-graders continue to make academic progress in math and English while providing engaging enrichment opportunities during the summer. In 2025, the program served over 39,000 students in 450 charter schools in seven U.S. cities. Independent evaluations continue to show the initiative’s success: The percentage of students meeting proficiency in math nearly doubled at the end of the program, and more than doubled in English.
Students at Central Queens Academy in New York City improved their math and English proficiency through our Summer Boost program.
158,900
158,900new U.S. charter school seats invested in since 2022
39,000
39,000summer education students supported in 2025
2025 Summer Boost Assessment Results
The percentage of students meeting standards nearly doubled in math and more than doubled in English
Math
18.9 percentage point increase in math proficiency
English
17.2 percentage point increase in English proficiency
Preparing Students for 21st-Century Success
Today, millions of well-paying jobs are available that require specific training, but not necessarily a four-year college degree. In 2024, we announced a major first-of-its-kind initiative to create specialized high schools across the U.S. that prepare students for high-demand jobs in the healthcare industry. Offering a healthcare-focused curriculum and work-based learning alongside traditional academic classes, ten schools have opened, with two more set to open in fall 2026. At full capacity, all 12 schools will serve over 7,300 students annually.
Students at HEAL High School, Houston, Texas — a specialized healthcare high school we helped to create — participated in a clinical training as part of their curriculum in June 2025.
Opening Doors to the Nation’s Top Colleges
Bloomberg Philanthropies works to ensure that high-achieving students from lower-income backgrounds are able to enroll in the top U.S. colleges and universities they are qualified to attend. One way we do this is through the American Talent Initiative. Launched in 2015, the coalition now has 137 members who have collectively enrolled record-breaking numbers of students from lower-income backgrounds.
In August 2025, we brought together the latest class of fellows in The Georgina and Charlotte Bloomberg Public Service Fellowship at NYU for a reception in New York City.
Student-Centered University Partnerships
As part of our work to expand access to college, we partner with select universities to offer strategic support for students.
Princeton University
The Emma Bloomberg Center for Access & Opportunity provides mentorship, support, and programming for first-generation and lower-income students, and served more than 1,000 students in 2025.
New York University
The Georgina and Charlotte Bloomberg Public Service Fellows Program has provided 45 students interested in public service with full-tuition scholarships for master’s degrees.
Kessler Scholars Collaborative
First launched by the Fred and Judy Wilpon Family Foundation, this initiative provides support services for first-generation, lower-income students and has expanded from six to 16 schools with our support.
Johns Hopkins University
We invest in wraparound services for students who are the first in their families to attend college or from lower-income families. In the 2024-2025 school year, our support helped lead to a 98 percent retention rate for students from these backgrounds. In addition to our historic $1.8 billion commitment to the university in 2018, which made undergraduate admissions need-blind, we announced an additional $1 billion in 2024 for financial aid for graduate students, including medical students.