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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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Supporting High Quality Journalism on Postsecondary Education Solutions

Field Development
Education Writers Association|$350,000|2/2025 - 1/2026
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.

Symposium for CAOs and CIOs: Collaborations for Innovative Student Success

Field Development
American Association of State Colleges and Universities|$50,000|1/2025 - 3/2025
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.

Expanding Registered Apprenticeships and the Role of Community Colleges

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Association of Community College Trustees |$2,015,040|12/2024 - 11/2028
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.

Strengthening National Service as a Pathway to Workforce Development and Economic Mobility in Rural Communities

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National Lead for America Inc|$2,250,000|12/2024 - 11/2027
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.

Identifying and Scaling Programmatic Technical Assistance Resources in Higher Education in Prison

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Emerson College|$324,200|12/2024 - 12/2026
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.

Identifying and Scaling Programmatic Technical Assistance Resources in Higher Education in Prison

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Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison Inc|$325,000|12/2024 - 12/2026
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.

Identifying and Scaling Programmatic Technical Assistance Resources in Higher Education in Prison

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Loyola University New Orleans|$325,000|12/2024 - 12/2026
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.

Identifying and Scaling Programmatic Technical Assistance Resources in Higher Education in Prison

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Pennsylvania State University|$324,875|12/2024 - 12/2026
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.

Identifying and Scaling Programmatic Technical Assistance Resources in Higher Education in Prison

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Resilience Education|$325,000|12/2024 - 12/2026
This grant supports Resilience Education in refining and packaging its instructor training program to effectively prepare instructors to teach in carceral settings.

Identifying and Scaling Programmatic Technical Assistance Resources in Higher Education in Prison

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Saint Louis University|$108,600|12/2024 - 12/2026
This grant supports St. Louis University in refining and packaging the curriculum for a Prison Education College Preparation Program to support incarcerated learners’ success in a postsecondary program.