Awarded Grants

This grant supports Rhodes College in Tennessee in facilitating collaboration across three postsecondary institutions that each operate programs in one prison facility in order to strengthen program alignment, facilitate resource sharing and improve offerings and outcomes for incarcerated learners.

This grant supports Colorado Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative (CEEMI) in planning the implementation of a local ASAP-type program to support low-income learner success in the Denver metro area. CEEMI is entering initial phases of building support among local stakeholders and identifying public funding streams to support the launch and sustainability of a Denver ASAP model.

This grant supports Community College Baccalaureate Association in collaborating with postsecondary and workforce partners to establish characteristics of quality for community college bachelor's degree programs.

This grant supports the Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison at the University of Utah in analyzing and synthesizing the public comments submitted in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the expansion of Pell Grants for incarcerated students. This analysis will support Ascendium, the Research Collaborative and others in identifying salient field concerns and questions regarding the reinstatement of Pell grant eligibility for incarcerated learners in July 2023.

This grant supports National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (the Center) in pioneering a new measure of income and incorporate analysis by income level into research reports. By further developing a new measure, the Center will have a replicable approach for disaggregating outcomes by students’ income background in its signature annual publications.

This grant supports the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning in coordinating the development of the Regional Upskilling Alliance, an innovative approach to developing sustainable connective structure that more effectively supports low-wage and unemployed adults in obtaining new skills and communicating them to employers in order to access thriving wage career opportunities.

This grant supports the Competency Based Education Network in developing a comprehensive agenda to scale implementation of competency-based education across the nation by engaging a coalition of key stakeholders in planning.

This grant supports the Wakiya Foundation in piloting the development of new, career-aligned bachelor’s degree programs at three tribal colleges in Montana. In partnership with the tribal college leaders and Western Governors University (WGU), Wakiya Foundation will lead a process of using labor market data to identify in-demand jobs for which no postsecondary education programs currently exist for tribal learners, and to fill those gaps through offerings delivered jointly by the tribal colleges and WGU.

This grant supports Education Commission of the States, through its Strong Start to Finish initiative, in accelerating the implementation of complex developmental education reforms at scale in up to eight state higher education systems.

This grant supports the Council of State Governments and the Urban Institute in working with state and local governments and public sector employers in Maine and Idaho to implement apprenticeship programs targeted to learners from low-income backgrounds. New apprenticeships will provide paid training and onramps to good civic sector jobs that are currently experiencing a shortage of qualified workers in rural communities.