Workforce Development Grantmaking in Native Nations and Communities Initiative
Other
This grant supports Workforce Matters in building the capacity of workforce organizations serving American Indian communities. Through subgrants and technical assistance, Workforce Matters will support workforce training organizations in accessing local labor market data and leveraging federal and private funding opportunities to improve postsecondary education and training opportunities.
Transfer Funders Group Facilitation & Planning
Exploration
This grant supports Sova Solutions in facilitating a planning process for the transfer funders group created informally by Ascendium and other postsecondary education funders in 2020. This process will explore the continued role of the network, including the potential for funding collaboration in support of shared grantmaking priorities related to transfer and credit mobility.
Community College Growth Engine Fund Expansion
Exploration
This grant supports Education Design Lab (The Lab) in deploying the Community College Growth Engine Fund with two community college systems. The Lab will support the design and pilot of employer-validated micro-pathways to connect low-income learners to economic mobility.
2023 Aspen Prize and New Student Outcomes Data Benchmarking Tool
Scaling
This grant supports the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program in awarding the 2023 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence and developing a set of data tools, benchmarks and resources to expand adoption of core student success practices related to community college excellence. This grant will support broader field use and engagement with metrics, enabling colleges to benchmark their progress and set institutional reform goals accordingly.
Women Of Color Leadership Summit
Other
This grant supports EquityWorksNW in convening a leadership summit for women of color in postsecondary education with the goal of supporting those leaders in designing and implementing institutional practices and policies that promote equitable student success.
Developing a Proxy Measure of Income in NSC Research Publications
Validation
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.
Conducting an Evaluability Assessment of Reentry Campus Program
Validation
This grant supports Research Triangle Institute in assessing the evaluation readiness of the Reentry Campus Program (RCP) through a one-year evaluability assessment. This work will assess RCP's operations and data collection to provide them with actionable steps to prepare for a rigorous study of how its approach contributes to positive postsecondary outcomes for currently/previously incarcerated learners.
Improving Higher Education Opportunities for English Learners
Exploration
This grant supports WestEd in examining the structural barriers faced by English Learners, a growing subpopulation of postsecondary students who disproportionately come from low income backgrounds. Information from research, policy and institutional practice will be synthesized to provide recommendations for reforming pathways that serve English Learners as they enter for-credit postsecondary degree programs.
Expansion of the Good Jobs Project
Validation
This grant supports the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce in mapping economic opportunity by identifying where good jobs exist in urban and rural regions and establishing the most reliable educational and training pathways to those jobs. This analysis will expand on existing research by contextualizing opportunities to locale and enabling education and workforce providers to align programs with existing and projected labor demand.
Community Colleges as Apprenticeship Intermediaries: Learning What Works
Exploration
This grant supports New America Foundation in exploring the role of apprenticeship intermediaries. New America will conduct research to identify effective community college apprenticeship intermediaries and offer policy and practice recommendations for community colleges to scale this strategy.
