How We See the Problem
Today’s learners often aren’t well served by the educational systems that were built years ago for more traditional students. Now students are often older, more diverse, working one or more jobs, raising families, and struggling to make ends meet.
Colleges and universities are complex, and often don’t have a student-centric approach to course offerings or availability, advising and other institutional policies. The problem shows in the equity gaps in completion rates: just 11% of low-income students graduate with a bachelor’s degree. Almost 6 times as many students — 58% overall — from higher-income households graduate.
Our Three Investment Priorities
Grants to Remove Structural Barriers to Success
Accelerating Just Transformation in the Foundational Postsecondary Experience
Exploration
This grant supports the Gardner Institute, through the Accelerating Just Transformation in the Foundational Postsecondary Experience (TFPE) project, in working with cohorts of colleges with growing populations of first-generation, low-income and minoritized student populations to redesign the first-year student experience. TFPE will enable institutions to redesign practices that impede success for learners from low-income backgrounds and identify and act on targeted reforms to promote equitable student success.
Project Success Formative and Summative Assessment
Exploration
This grant supports Achieving the Dream in evaluating Project Success at its partner Tribal Colleges and Universities. The two-part assessment will provide critical lessons for Achieving the Dream, the participating institutions and the broader field on implementing student-facing practices.
Addressing Inequity in College Retention of Low-Income Students: Collaboratively Creating Pathways to Careers in Four-Year Degree Programs
Exploration
This grant supports the Yes We Must Coalition in helping 10 member institutions adopt reforms to strengthen career advising and outcomes for learners. Participating institutions will redesign one to two bachelor's degree pathways to better connect learning with career opportunities in those fields of study.
Sustaining and Scaling Equitable Educational Practices
Scaling
This grant supports the Tennessee Board of Regents, the governing body for the College System of Tennessee, in scaling high impact practices and applying learning mindset research to create more supportive classrooms throughout the system.
Supporting Provosts for Student Success Transformation in State Systems
Scaling
This grant supports Sova, in partnership with the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, in accelerating institutional student success reforms in four states by aligning those reforms with state-level policy and creating a network of state teams to provide cross-state learning and support.
Remove Structural Barriers to Success
Scaling
This grant supports The Education Trust-West in providing technical assistance to teams from up to 16 California institutions to develop and implement plans for scaled developmental education reform pursuant to state legislative mandates.
Scaling the Leadership Academy for Student Success
Scaling
This grant supports National Center for Inquiry and Improvement (NCII) in replicating the Ohio Leadership Academy for Student Success in two to three additional states. NCII will work with selected states to implement key elements of the Ohio model for providing targeted training for leaders within community colleges, thereby building state- and system-level capacity to implement wide-scale strategies for student success.
Launching Postsecondary State Impact Projects
Exploration
This grant supports Jobs for the Future (JFF) in working with postsecondary system leaders in Washington and North Carolina to implement comprehensive statewide student success reforms. With JFF’s support, system leaders in North Carolina will develop statewide strategies for rural education and training aligned to future workforce needs. System leaders in Washington will design a statewide student advising platform to improve accountability and compliance with state requirements for community colleges.
Curricular Analytics
Validation
This grant supports the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities, hosted at Colorado State University, in validating the relationship between curricular structure and equitable student outcomes. A network of national senior leaders will collaborate to develop and test strategies for using their institutional data to engage faculty in revising university curriculum.
Creating a National Movement for Emergency Aid
Scaling
This grant supports Scholarship America in launching a national campaign communicating the impact of emergency aid for learners from low-income backgrounds in an effort to broaden the donor base for emergency aid nationwide.
