News

UNCF Awarded $1.9 Million Ascendium Grant to Improve Academic and Career Outcomes of HBCU Students

Eight Historically Black Colleges and Universities will share funds from a two-year grant awarded to the United Negro College Fund to continue an important initiative to increase student success outcomes.

Higher Ed’s Most Successful Failure

For students struggling with hardship, community college support programs designed to help them stay on track can make a huge difference in whether they complete their degree. This article advocates for support programs and the replication of them throughout America, using the CUNY Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), which Ascendium funded the replication of, as an example of why it works.

New Grants, New Report on Postsecondary Education in Prison Metrics, Strong Start to Finish

• New Grants Support a Spectrum of Student Success Initiatives
• IHEP Releases Groundbreaking KPI Framework Report
• Strong Start To Finish Shows Early Promising Results: Case Studies

Report Details Framework for Gathering Data on Higher Ed in Prison

There is a national need to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) of student success for higher education in prison programs, and a report from the Institute for Higher Education Policy explores how to use those KPIs to identify and benchmark those programs. This important work was supported by a grant from Ascendium.

Supporting Success: The Higher Education in Prison Key Performance Indicator Framework

The much-anticipated release of IHEP’s report on key performance indicators establishes a set of metrics to collect data to help the field better understand and improve incarcerated student outcomes. Read more about Ascendium’s interest in funding this report.

Transfer Research Funding, Text Steps, New Resources and Recent Grants

• COVID-19’s Effect on Transfer: Toward a Clearer Picture
• Districts Take Next Steps After Text Steps
• New Resources

Data Project Will Clarify COVID-19's Impact on Equity in College Transfer

Ascendium's project with the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center will provide much-needed, near-real time data on college student transfers in the COVID-19 era

A New Initiative Supports Rural Community Colleges

Education Design Lab has received a grant from Ascendium to help five community colleges improve college access and better meet local workforce needs. The nonprofit will start by researching challenges facing rural community colleges, students and communities, and then select five institutions to study and test out models for bolstering economic opportunity.

Ascendium Issues Grants to Help Orgs Continue Their Ed Improvement Programs

Two organizations have received grants from Ascendium as part of its “Maintain Momentum for Student Success Initiative.” Funding will be used to help member institutions continue serving students with the greatest financial need, and provide coaching packages for community colleges and program support.

Ascendium-funded Study Will Quantify How COVID-19 Impacts Higher Ed Student Transfer Patterns in Near Real-Time

The pandemic is making transfer pathways far more challenging for students, but the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center is studying the impact and will release a new research series that specifically addresses student transfer, mobility and progress in near-real-time.