Wichita State University has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to create the Wichita HIREs program: Humanities Internships Reward Employers, an initiative designed to expand applied learning opportunities for students pursuing humanities degrees. This transformative grant includes a $1 million matching funds requirement to build a long-term endowment to sustain the program beyond the five-year grant period.
Beginning in the 2026 spring semester, Wichita HIREs will leverage WSU’s established leadership in applied learning to create increased opportunities for humanities students. While WSU students collectively work in more than 12,000 positions per academic year, humanities majors represent only 0.5% of enrolled applied learning participants. This program will directly address this gap by creating paid internships for approximately 300 humanities students over the life of the grant.