Awarded Grants

This grant supports the National Association of Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) in providing technical support to colleges and universities working to become approved Prison Education Programs (PEPs). NASFAA will also convene intermediaries doing complementary work, so that PEP programs have more resources to effectively enroll and support incarcerated learners.

This grant will support Better Future Forward (BFF) in assessing its program effectiveness and the outcomes of the learners it serves. By deploying a survey of learners accessing its income-share agreement (ISA), gathering high-quality career outcomes data on its learners, improving servicing processes to increase compliance rates, and establishing a community of practice of ISA providers, BFF will contribute to improvements in outcomes-based lending practices.

This grant supports Education Writers Association in enhancing small independent outlets’ capacity to report on postsecondary issues while providing training and opportunities for journalists across the country to cover local, rural, and national stories related to postsecondary education and workforce training.

This grant supports the Association of State Colleges and Universities in convening chief academic officers and chief information officers to share promising practices focused on the use of data and technology to advance student success.

This grant supports the Association of Community College Trustees in developing new Registered Apprenticeship (RA) programs at community colleges in occupational sectors that have not traditionally used apprenticeship as a training pathway. Twenty community colleges will engage in designing and implementing new RA programs, demonstrating the potential for community colleges to serve as RA intermediaries in addition to instructional providers.

This grant supports Lead for America in designing and embedding workforce-aligned credentials into its national service program, which provides rural learners with a year-long curriculum and on-the-job experiences in digitally-focused jobs in the social sector. The project will expand Lead for America's program by more than doubling the number of rural learners from low-income backgrounds completing the service year and earning credentials.

This grant supports Emerson College in refining and packaging a suite of resources aimed at program implementation and continuous improvement. These resources contribute to the field by illustrating high-impact practices in program implementation and provide program benchmarks that other programs can adapt and replicate.

This grant supports Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison, Inc., in refining, expanding, and packaging the Hudson Link Employer Toolkit. This toolkit contributes to the field by sharing guidance and resources related to Fair Chance hiring policies and practices that can be used by employers, reentry organizations, campus-based career services staff, colleges and universities, and programs to promote the successful reentry and workforce success of formerly incarcerated students and graduates.

This grant supports Loyola University in refining and packaging their data collection inventory tool to help define metrics and track the progress and success of incarcerated learners.

This grant supports Pennsylvania State University in refining and packaging a Reentry Simulation Toolkit to support and drive culture change regarding the integration of incarcerated students back into communities post-release. This Reentry Simulation Toolkit will contribute to the field by raising awareness of common challenges and barriers experienced by formerly incarcerated students who are navigating reentry, and enabling critical discussions about the ways prison postsecondary programs and reentry providers can better promote the successful reentry, transfer, degree completion, and workforce success of students.