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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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Embedding High-Dosage Tutoring in Tennessee Community Colleges

Support
Tennessee Board of Regents-The College System of Tennessee |$1,997,500|11/2025 - 12/2029
This grant supports Tennessee Board of Regents in implementing classroom-embedded, high-dosage tutoring and assessing its effect on community college students’ gateway course completion and their subsequent term-to-term persistence.

Accelerating Impact: Advancing Evidence for Postsecondary Success and Economic Mobility

Field Development
MDRC|$10,000,000|11/2025 - 10/2029
This grant supports MDRC in conducting in depth research in partnership with postsecondary and workforce training practitioners and policymakers to identify best practices, effective program components, and overall strategies that improve economic mobility for learners from low-income backgrounds.

Aligning Services for Justice-Impacted Students within the University System of Maryland

Connect
University System of Maryland|$4,162,415|11/2025 - 10/2029
This grant supports the University System of Maryland in streamlining postsecondary education in prison programming across the state by launching a network of resource hubs across the system for learners with a history of incarceration. The resource hubs will serve both to coordinate high-impact degree programs across institutions, facilities and communities, and as a centralized entry point for high-quality reentry services.

Connecting Systems to Scale Public Sector Apprenticeships

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The Council of State Governments Ltd|$3,350,800|11/2025 - 10/2029
This grant supports the Council of State Governments in expanding public-sector apprenticeships in rural states, helping governments build sustainable talent pipelines and create new pathways to quality jobs.

Advancing Colorado's Work-Based Learning Experiences in Higher Education

Support
Colorado Department of Higher Education|$5,500,105|11/2025 - 10/2028
This grant supports the Colorado Department of Higher Education in launching and leading a statewide, work-based learning consortium. The consortium will support five public institutions and their faculty in embedding industry-aligned, work-based learning experiences into their courses.

Expanding Substate Employment Projections to Improve Decision-Making and Workforce Planning

Connect
Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness|$3,000,000|11/2025 - 10/2028
This grant supports the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness to work with two cohorts of states to improve the use of publicly available labor market information at the local and regional level, to better align education and training programs to relevant labor market demand.

Strategic Evidence Planning Cohort

Field Development
Project Evident Inc|$1,150,200|11/2025 - 10/2026
This grant supports Project Evident in engaging with six Ascendium-funded partners to develop roadmaps for generating the data and evidence needed for internal learning, program improvement, and communication of impact.

Formalizing the North Carolina Prison Education Consortium

Connect
North Carolina Prison Education Consortium|$750,000|10/2025 - 9/2028
This grant supports North Carolina Prison Education Consortium in launching state-level communications, best-in-class program design, data-sharing practices, and codified processes for colleges utilizing Pell grants for students with a history of incarceration in North Carolina.

IAF Affiliate Benchmarking Project

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Economic Mobility Corporation|$475,000|10/2025 - 9/2028
This grant supports Economic Mobility Corporation in partnering with five sectoral workforce training organizations in Texas to develop standardized performance metrics in order to assess fidelity of program implementation, improve service delivery, and share best practices.

Strive to Thrive: Supporting Student Success Coaching in Emerging HSIs

Support
Strada Collaborative LLC|$707,825|10/2025 - 6/2028
This grant supports InsideTrack to support three emerging Hispanic Serving Institutions in using InsideTrack’s evidence-based success coaching program to improve retention, academic success, and completion rates. InsideTrack will also provide training to institutional staff to create sustainable in-house coaching programs.