Ascendium Education Group

The Promise of a Better Future

We focus on giving learners from low-income backgrounds more opportunities to succeed by fostering systemic change.

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Our Focus Areas

We know learners from low-income backgrounds have the same abilities as high-income learners. Ascendium is working to change postsecondary and workforce training systems so that low-income learners have the same opportunities for academic and career success. To that end, we award exploration, validation and scaling grants in four focus areas that foster upward social mobility.

THE CHANGE WE SEEK

We hope our work contributes to a future where more learners from low-income backgrounds earn degrees and credentials in postsecondary education and workforce training. We envision this leading to improved labor market success and socioeconomic mobility for these learners.

To assess the progress of our strategy on the changes we seek, we monitor data points related to first-year persistence, degree and credential completion, time to completion and job placement.

Postsecondary education and workforce training are the surest paths to a satisfying, family-supporting career. Unfortunately, the very groups that could benefit the most from these opportunities have historically been underrepresented, and learners who do have access are less likely than their peers to complete their program and gain a valuable credential.

Some challenges cannot be overcome by personal grit alone. That’s why our philanthropy addresses the persistent barriers that stand in the way of success for learners from low-income backgrounds. All of our grantmaking is driven by the same essential goal: Helping more students from low-income backgrounds—especially first generation students, rural community members, veterans, students of color and incarcerated adults—reap the benefits of postsecondary access and increased social mobility.

News and updates

March 23, 2023 Newsletter

Keith Witham Named New Vice President - Education Philanthropy, Q&A with AHEP’s Ved Price and More

A Message from Our New Vice President - Education Philanthropy, Keith Witham
Q&A: AHEP’s Ved Price on the State of Postsecondary Education in Prison Programs
Grant Partners Selected for Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success

March 23, 2023 News Release

Keith Witham Named Ascendium’s Vice President of Education Philanthropy

Ascendium is pleased to announce Keith Witham has been selected to serve as our new vice president of education philanthropy. A national search for this highly impactful position brought forward many good and interested candidates. After a comprehensive search and review process, Keith’s extensive knowledge of the field and hands-on grantmaking experience made him the ideal person to lead our education philanthropy efforts.

March 23, 2023 News Release

Ascendium Announces Grant Partners for Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success

Ascendium is pleased to announce the grant partners selected to receive funding through our Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success initiative.