Awarded Grants | Ascendium’s Education Philanthropy - Grants Page 4 Skip to main content

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.

Talent Strong Texas Pathways: Student Supports and Belonging HB8 Implementation

Texas Community College Education Initiative|$3,000,000|9/2024 - 8/2027
This grant supports the Texas Success Center in developing and implementing holistic basic needs and support services at Texas community colleges. This statewide initiative aims to help colleges strengthen supports for learners to ensure they complete credential of values in alignment with the state’s new funding model established by House Bill 8.

Building a National Network of First-Generation Data Savvy Institutions

National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Inc|$2,000,000|8/2024 - 8/2027
This grant supports the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators in providing technical assistance to 60 colleges and universities through its Center for First-Generation Student Success. The Center will help institutions develop a definition of first-generation college students and set up data systems to understand how well programs are serving them.

Building Data Collection and Evaluation Capacity for Higher Education in Prisons

Ithaka Harbors Inc|$1,300,000|8/2024 - 8/2027
This grant supports Ithaka Harbors Inc in designing and launching a data collection tool for colleges and departments of correction to streamline the collection and aggregation of high-quality student-level data, building capacity for continuous improvement of postsecondary in prison programs.

Innovations in Proactive Communication and Support for STEM Success

Brown University|$750,000|9/2023 - 8/2027
This grant supports the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University in assessing the impact of a tech-enabled, academic support innovation targeting students’ STEM gateway course success and persistence at Georgia State University.

Improving College-Career Transitions: Leveraging Internships and Campus Career Services to Improve Early Career Outcomes

The Regents of the University of California, on behalf of its Irvine campus|$1,435,800|8/2024 - 7/2027
This grant supports the University of California at Irvine in assessing the effects of college-based career service engagement on learners’ academic and labor market success and to test a tool designed to increase learner participation in those services.

Upper Midwest Collaborative to Address Economic Imperatives

Michigan Community College Foundation|$3,080,000|8/2024 - 7/2027
This grant supports the Michigan Community College Association (MCCA) and the Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC) in providing technical assistance to community colleges addressing economic development opportunities in the Upper Midwest region. Using a regional collaborative approach, MCCA and OACC will work with national partners to create targeted student success strategies to address workforce needs in the region.

Putting Community Colleges at the Center of Innovation Economies

New America Foundation|$3,000,000|8/2024 - 7/2027
This grant supports New America in building a cohort of community colleges and districts across 10 regional sites in the National Science Foundation's Regional Innovation Engines Program, a national effort authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 to strengthen regional economies through innovative new industries. Colleges engaged in this cohort will identify and implement new STEM programs to create greater oppportunities for learners from low-income backgrounds in emerging sectors with strong demand and good wages.

Aspen Prize, Higher Education Board Reform, and Increasing Focus on College Leadership

The Aspen Institute Inc|$4,900,000|8/2024 - 7/2027
This grant supports the Aspen Institute in engaging and training community college boards of trustees in student success practices, supporting research and field building through the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, and elevating the importance of college leadership in improving outcomes for learners in community colleges.

Understanding How Incarcerated Learners Experience Developmental Education Reforms

Research for Action Inc|$1,050,000|2/2025 - 6/2027
This grant supports Research for Action in understanding the implications of developmental education reform on incarcerated learners' postsecondary opportunities and outcomes.

Identifying and Scaling Programmatic Technical Assistance in Postsecondary Education in Prison Programs

American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences|$4,685,300|7/2024 - 6/2027
This grant supports American Institutes for Research in launching an initiative focused on significantly growing the availability of high-quality best practice guidance for postsecondary education in prison programs. By leveraging the expertise of longstanding programs and supporting them in refining and sharing best practices, the initiative will establish quality standards and generate new resources for the broader field as it grows in response to the reinstatement of Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated learners.