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Ascendium Education Philanthropy is a division of Ascendium Education Group.

Awarded Grants

The grants we award advance our core strategies to Expand Opportunity, Support Learner Success, and Connect and Align Systems. They also promote field support and development efforts across strategies.

Strategies

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National Reporting by Hechinger Report on Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training

Field Development
Teachers College, Columbia University|$450,000|10/2025 - 9/2027
This grant supports The Hechinger Report, a publication of the Teachers College at Columbia University, in producing high-quality reporting on emerging trends, challenges, and promising solutions in postsecondary education and workforce training.

Revising Higher Education Funding to Promote Credential Attainment and Economic Mobility

Connect
Partnership for Learning|$500,000|10/2025 - 9/2027
This grant supports Partnership for Learning in leading a state-wide effort to revise higher education funding for public institutions to better promote credential attainment and economic mobility.

Launching the Center for Research on Education, Justice and Opportunity

Expand
University of Utah|$8,000,000|9/2025 - 8/2029
This grant supports the University of Utah in launching a research center focused on postsecondary education in prisons. The proposed center will serve as a national hub for advancing research to inform the design, evaluation, and improvement of those programs.

RENEW – Reinvesting in Nursing Education and Workforce

Expand
WGU Corporation|$2,381,300|9/2025 - 8/2029
This grant supports Western Governors University (WGU) and Social Finance in building the infrastructure to implement, track, and evaluate the efficacy of the ReNEW Fund – a zero-interest loan program designed to increase the access and completion of learners from low-income and rural backgrounds in WGU's competency-based pre-licensure BSN degree program.

Decreasing Time to Degree Through Student-Centered Course Scheduling

Support
American Association of State Colleges and Universities|$2,433,800|9/2025 - 12/2027
This grant supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in leading a cohort of 20 regional public universities in making changes to course schedules that improve on-time completion of credentials.

Reporting on Apprenticeships as a Critical Pathway to Success

Field Development
Inside Higher Ed Inc|$100,000|9/2025 - 8/2026
This grant supports Inside Higher Ed in producing a four-part series on apprenticeships using case studies, expert interviews, personal narratives, and other in-depth on-site reporting. It will examine how innovative programs are aligning earn-and-learn opportunities to workforce needs and creating pathways to economic mobility for rural and other underserved learners.

Fair Chance to Advance: Transforming Systems and Building Pathways from Corrections to Quality Jobs

Connect
Jobs for the Future Inc|$19,500,000|8/2025 - 7/2030
This grant supports Jobs for the Future (JFF) in fostering alignment across agencies and systems to improve postsecondary education programming and workforce training for learners with a history of incarceration. JFF will support leaders from state departments of correction, postsecondary systems, workforce agencies, and employers to remove systemic barriers to employment, create clear training pathways, and promote fair chance hiring.

Growing the Community of Formerly-Incarcerated Leaders in HEP

Field Development
Rockwood Leadership Institute|$3,891,000|8/2025 - 12/2028
This grant supports Rockwood Leadership Institute in implementing the Fellowship for Formerly Incarcerated Leaders in Higher Education in Prison program for three additional cohorts.

Developing Pre-entry Resources

Support
Our Community Ltd|$57,500|7/2025 - 6/2026
This grant supports Our Community Ltd in developing and disseminating career exploration resources to help incarcerated individuals make informed decisions about postsecondary education and workforce training that can provide opportunity for employment and upward mobility after release.

Seeding the Rise Up Summit

Field Development
Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison Inc|$150,000|7/2025 - 6/2026
This grant supports Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison in conducting a comprehensive convening and planning process to solidify the programmatic and logistical strategy for the annual virtual Rise Up Conference, now in its fifth year. Hudson Link is exploring the need and feasibility to transition Rise Up to a permanent, in-person annual event.