Bringing Value-Based Bachelor's Degrees to Rural Community College Students
Scaling
New America Foundation|$1,100,000|5/2022 - 5/2025
This grant supports New America Foundation in building capacity at community colleges to create high-quality, affordable and workforce-driven baccalaureate programs. Community college baccalaureate programs provide new or expanded access to in-demand sectors, particularly for underserved populations such as adult learners and learners from low-income backgrounds in rural areas.
Rural Research Support Partner
Exploration
American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences|$391,117|4/2022 - 2/2025
This grant supports American Institutes for Research in managing Ascendium’s multi-year research initiative to support action-oriented research aimed at addressing critical gaps in the evidence available to inform scaled and sustained improvements in the postsecondary and workforce outcomes of low-income learners in rural geographies.
NCII Impact Fund - Rural Guided Pathways
Scaling
New Venture Fund|$3,392,450|10/2021 - 9/2024
This grant supports the NCII Impact Fund, a project of the New Venture Fund, in the developing and delivering a regionalized approach to guided pathways focused on rural institutions. This three year support model would be a first-of-its-kind approach to guided pathways implementation that includes community colleges, as well as workforce, employer, K12 and university partners as core members of the implementation team.
Training Low-Income Workers for Remote Opportunities
Exploration
The Foundation for Maine's Community Colleges|$535,000|7/2021 - 6/2024
This grant supports the Foundation for Maine's Community Colleges in building and implementing a state-wide training program designed to prepare rural Maine residents for success in remote working roles. Over three years, the program will train 700+ learners and establish the Maine Advisory Council on Remote Working.
Evaluating the HBCU Adult Learner Initiative
Validation
UNCF|$74,000|12/2021 - 12/2023
This grant supports UNCF in evaluating the Adult Learner Initiative, an initiative designed to help five Historically Black Colleges and Universities in North Carolina identify and eliminate barriers that prevent Black rural adult learners from low-income backgrounds from earning a degree or credential.
Evaluating Digital Pathways Transformation Cohort of Rural Community Colleges
Validation
Achieving the Dream Inc|$240,000|12/2020 - 12/2023
This grant supports Achieving the Dream in building a cohort of six rural community colleges going through large-scale institutional change to prepare and increase the number of low-income learners that graduate and enter the digital economy. This grant will support the evaluation of this cohort and will build a body of evidence outlining key success factors for supporting rural community colleges and learners.
Building Rural Community Learning Systems
Scaling
Columbus Learning Center Management Corporation|$750,000|9/2021 - 8/2023
This grant supports CivicLab, a project of Columbus Learning Center Management Corporation, in launching a cohort of six to eight rural community partnerships, building the capacity of rural community learning systems to improve learner-level outcomes along a talent development pathway.
Catalyzing Rural Community Colleges Through a Design Challenge
Exploration
Education Design Lab|$1,996,925|4/2020 - 6/2023
This grant supports Education Design Lab in executing a three-year design challenge to develop and pilot new solutions to the question: “How might we improve the ability of rural community colleges to be a critical engine (or catalyst) of growth in their local communities?” Education Design Lab will partner with five rural community colleges to collaboratively structure, design and evaluate new programs.
Leveraging Arkansas Community Colleges to Support Economic Development
Exploration
Local Initiatives Support Corporation |$240,000|12/2021 - 5/2023
This grant supports Rural Local Initiatives Support Corporation in providing technical assistance to the Arkansas Association of Community Colleges to help their 22 institutions statewide serve as leaders for regional workforce development partnerships.
Building Pathways to Quality Jobs and Financial Security in Rural America
Scaling
Local Initiatives Support Corporation |$1,302,077|5/2020 - 5/2023
This grant supports 11 communities in the Local Initiatives Support Corporation’s Rural Works initiative, a national network of workforce intermediaries committed to modernizing and redeveloping pathways from postsecondary education and training to employment.
