The Trip Foundation

The Trip Foundation was established to remove financial barriers that prevent young people from participating in transformative educational experiences. To date, we have served more than 425 students across 13 schools, supporting programs that expose students to higher education pathways, cultural exchange, STEM learning, and social-emotional development.

Our U Can! College Tours initiative is specifically designed to introduce students—many of whom will be first-generation college applicants—to postsecondary environments and the possibilities they represent. Through structured campus visits, students engage with university communities, learn about admissions and academic expectations, and begin to envision themselves in collegiate settings that may have previously felt inaccessible.

This fall, approximately 30 students from a New York City alternative high school in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn will travel to Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, the nation’s first HBCU. The visit is intended to expose students to the rich academic and cultural legacy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities while encouraging long-term educational planning and self-confidence.

In addition, students from across lower Westchester County, New York will visit South Carolina State University as part of a developing educator pathway initiative. Participating students are exploring careers in education and are being encouraged to return to the very school districts from which they graduated to help address ongoing teacher shortages and representation gaps in public education.

These experiences reflect The Trip Foundation’s broader mission: to expand access to opportunity by connecting students with educational environments, cultural experiences, and academic pathways that broaden their sense of possibility and future potential. We anticipate that additional schools will participate in HBCU and college visits throughout the current academic year and into 2027 as demand for these experiences continues to grow.

While college access programming is a focus of our work, The Trip Foundation also supports curriculum-connected domestic and international educational travel opportunities through our broader experiential learning initiatives. Students from partner schools have participated in educator-led programs in Brazil, Costa Rica, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, and Puerto Rico, as well as domestic excursions focused on STEAM and social-emotional learning. Across all programs, our goal remains consistent: ensuring that students from historically under-resourced communities have meaningful access to educational experiences that support academic growth, confidence, and long-term success.

Importantly, The Trip Foundation does not organize or operate school trips directly. Rather, we partner with schools and educators by providing financial support that helps offset transportation, lodging, equipment, and other essential travel-related expenses that might otherwise prevent student participation.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss our work further and explore potential partnership opportunities with your organization. Thank you for your consideration.