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EDUCATION PHILANTHROPY DIVISION OF ASCENDIUM EDUCATION GROUP

Remove Structural Barriers to Success

Our philanthropy focuses on reducing or eliminating institutional and systemic barriers for underrepresented postsecondary education learners so they can achieve their academic and career goals.

Students from low incomes learn on laptops.

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.

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Our Three Investment Priorities

Grants to Remove Structural Barriers to Success

Scaling the Leadership Academy for Student Success

Scaling
New Venture Fund|$1,062,925|12/2022 - 12/2025
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.

Scaling Academic Recovery Interventions

Scaling
University Innovation Alliance|$2,500,000|12/2022 - 6/2025
This grant supports the University Innovation Alliance in scaling Georgia State University’s Accelerator Academy program to 10 member institutions. The Accelerator Academy, comprising a suite of comprehensive interventions with demonstrated success, will allow institutions to target students at risk of falling behind or not completing a degree due to a D, F or W (Withdrawn) in critical coursework.

Site-Specific Evaluation of Academic Recovery Innovations

Validation
The Regents of the University of California, on behalf of its Riverside campus|$85,380|8/2023 - 6/2025
This grant supports The Regents of the University of California, on behalf of its Riverside campus, in evaluating a campus-level intervention (“academy recovery model”) targeting students who fail in critical courses. This institution-level evaluation will provide insights into localized implementation and create the conditions for a potential future evaluation to determine the interventions’ impact on student outcomes.

Site-Specific Evaluation of Academic Recovery Innovations

Validation
Arizona State University Foundation for a New American University|$164,200|8/2023 - 6/2025
This grant supports Arizona State University Foundation for a New American University in evaluating a campus-level intervention (“academy recovery model”) targeting students who fail in critical courses. This institution-level evaluation will provide insights into localized implementation and create the conditions for a potential future evaluation to determine the interventions’ impact on student outcomes.

Site-Specific Evaluation of Academic Recovery Innovations

Validation
University of Utah|$185,000|8/2023 - 6/2025
This grant supports University of Utah in evaluating a campus-level intervention (“academy recovery model”) targeting students who fail in critical courses. This institution-level evaluation will provide insights into localized implementation and create the conditions for a potential future evaluation to determine the interventions’ impact on student outcomes.

Site-Specific Evaluation of Academic Recovery Innovations

Validation
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois|$158,700|8/2023 - 6/2025
This grant supports The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois in evaluating a campus-level intervention (“academy recovery model”) targeting students who fail critical courses. This institution-level evaluation will provide insights into localized implementation and create the conditions for a potential future evaluation to determine the interventions’ impact on student outcomes.

Building a Movement to Implement Corequisite Models of Support in Illinois

Exploration
Partnership for College Completion|$750,000|6/2023 - 6/2025
This grant supports the Partnership for College Completion in working with a cohort of Illinois colleges to implement developmental education reforms as required by the Developmental Education Reform Act passed by the state legislature in 2021. Partnership for College Completion will support institutions in designing and implementing multiple measures placement practices and building capacity for continuous improvement through data literacy and change management.

Advancing Equitable Outcomes through Leadership

Exploration
North Carolina State University|$1,803,200|6/2021 - 5/2025
This grant supports North Carolina State University’s Belk Center for Community College Leadership in building capacity for presidents, senior teams and trustees of the state’s 58 community colleges. Learner-centered leadership development is needed to address structural barriers to student success and implement solutions that will achieve equitable outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds.

From Opening Doors to Ushering In- Strategic Enrollment Management for Adult Learner Success

Exploration
Achieving the Dream Inc|$670,000|12/2023 - 5/2025
This grant supports Achieving the Dream (ATD) in supporting five community colleges as they design and implement enrollment management plans focused on identifying, recruiting, and supporting the enrollment and success of adult learners. ATD will assist colleges in assessing the needs of potential adult learners in their regions, identifying strategies to enroll those learners, and implementing practices to ensure their success.

Modern Math Pathways for All Students

Scaling
University of Texas at Austin|$1,100,000|5/2022 - 4/2025
This grant supports the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin in building capacity for large-scale mathematics reform in states that have not yet undertaken significant transformation.
View All Ascendium Grants

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