Mizzou Gets $25M for Kinder Institute
The University of Missouri received a $25 million donation to its Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, funding a new graduate fellowship program.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Scholarships
The University of Missouri received a $25 million donation from the Kinder Foundation to the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy, announced Nov. 3 in the Jesse Hall rotunda. The gift funds the Kinder Scholar program, a two-year, fully funded graduate fellowship.
Why it matters
The donation brings the Kinder Foundation's total support for the institute to $86 million and expands global opportunities, faculty recruitment and student scholarships in Columbia. The fellowship offers graduate students in the field a funded path to study at Mizzou and abroad.
The Kinder Scholar program accepts 10 students, half American and half British, for two years of funded study. Fellows spend one year at Mizzou and one year at the Rothermere American Institute in Oxford.
The players
Kinder Foundation
The Kinder Foundation is a philanthropic organization that has provided $86 million in total funding to the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy.
Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy
The Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy is a University of Missouri research and education institute focused on the study of constitutional democracy.
The details
The donation will be invested in the institute's three pillars: expanding global student opportunities, recruiting faculty from across the globe, and funding student scholarships and internships. The Kinder Scholar program centers on the study of Atlantic history and politics.
Timeline
Nov. 3, 2026: University of Missouri announces the $25 million donation at Jesse Hall.
Scholarship Landscape
The Kinder Scholar program adds a fully funded, two-year graduate track that pairs Missouri study with Oxford training, extending the Kinder Institute's prior $86 million in Kinder Foundation support. It positions the Columbia campus alongside transatlantic programs focused on constitutional and political history.
Graduate students interested in Atlantic history and politics can pursue the Kinder Scholar fellowship, which covers two years of study split between Columbia and Oxford. Eligibility and application details were not included in the announcement.
The takeaway
Graduate students exploring constitutional democracy and transatlantic study now have a fully funded two-year option at Mizzou, with a limited cohort of 10 fellows split evenly between American and British candidates.
Further reading
Explore more scholarship opportunities for graduate students in the field.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Maneater.
