# EducationQuest Foundation

EducationQuest Foundation is an Endowment / Foundation based in Lincoln, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation
- **Headquarters:** Lincoln, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** 1300 O Street, Lincoln, NE 68501, United States
- **Founded:** 1998
- **Assets under management:** $100M - $250M (Altss estimate)
- **Website:** educationquest.org

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Established in 1998 and headquartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, the EducationQuest Foundation operates as a private, nonprofit grantmaking endowment dedicated to improving college access and affordability for Nebraska students. The foundation traces its origin to the student-loan servicing enterprise that created its corpus, which now permanently endows operations across four Nebraska offices in Lincoln, Omaha, Kearney, and Scottsbluff. Liz S. Koop has served as President and CEO since its inception, with oversight from a board chaired by retired Bryan Medical Center president Craig Ames. The foundation allocates its permanent endowment across a notably broad private-market strategy, with confirmed participation across buyout funds, growth equity, venture capital, distressed debt, mezzanine, secondaries, and natural resources vehicles. The portfolio tilts toward a hybrid fund-of-funds model, supplemented by direct co-investment. Geographic exposure spans domestic and international markets, though the primary pipeline favors US middle-market general partners. The permanent endowment — estimated by Altss at approximately $168 million — is stewarded through a lean operational structure that draws on board-level expertise from finance and institutional healthcare leadership. Board member John Decker, a senior vice president at D.A. Davidson, brings direct capital-markets experience to the investment committee. The foundation maintains professional-network affiliations through leadership participation in Lincoln Rotary Club #14 and the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, reflecting a localized institutional posture. In September 2023, the foundation continued its core scholarship programming, disbursing need-based grants through its College Access Grants program alongside the privately funded EducationQuest Scholarship Program. The foundation's structural differentiator is its dual identity: it functions simultaneously as a grantmaking operating foundation with a visible statewide programmatic presence and as a disciplined allocator running a sophisticated, multi-strategy endowment portfolio. Unlike many similarly sized foundations that outsource nearly all investment functions, EducationQuest's board-level composition — combining endowment stewardship with in-house financial-advisory expertise through CEO Koop's family affiliation with Morgan Stanley — creates an unusually integrated governance model for an institution of its scale.

## Sectors

- Education
- Private Credit
- Secondaries & Special Situations
- Real Estate

## Offices

- Omaha, NE, United States
- Kearney, NE, United States
- Scottsbluff, NE, United States

## People

- Liz S. Koop — President and CEO

## Questions

### How is EducationQuest Foundation funded, and where does the endowment originate?

The foundation's endowment corpus was created from the proceeds of a student-loan servicing business. The resulting permanent endowment now funds college-access programming, need-based grants, and scholarships for Nebraska students. The foundation does not publicly disclose the specific corporate origin beyond its 1998 founding. Liz Koop has led the institution since its inception.

### What is EducationQuest's investment strategy?

The foundation runs a hybrid fund-of-funds program with co-investment capacity, allocating across buyout, venture capital, distressed debt, mezzanine, growth equity, secondaries, natural resources, and timber. The strategy is balanced — designed for long-term purchasing-power preservation to support perpetual grantmaking — rather than a narrow sector or stage focus.

### Is EducationQuest Foundation affiliated with any government agency?

No. Despite its name and focus on educational funding, EducationQuest Foundation is a private, independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It is not a state agency, though it coordinates with Nebraska schools and families to administer scholarships and college-planning services.

### Does EducationQuest Foundation accept outside capital or co-investors?

No. EducationQuest invests solely from its permanent endowment for its own account. It does not operate as a multi-family office, outsourced CIO, or fund manager accepting third-party capital.

## Related profiles

- [Catholic Foundation of Northern Colorado](https://altss.com/profile/catholic-foundation-of-northern-colorado)
- [Hingham Contributory Retirement System](https://altss.com/profile/hingham-contributory-retirement-system)

---

Last updated: 2026-08-11T02:43:31.692Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/educationquest

Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology