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EDUCATION PHILANTHROPY DIVISION OF ASCENDIUM EDUCATION GROUP

Support Rural Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training

Our philanthropy elevates rural postsecondary education and workforce training, long absent from education reform efforts.

Learners from rural community training together.

How We See the Problem

Disparities in postsecondary success between rural students and their urban and suburban peers exist at every point in the pipeline, from enrollment to completion. These disparities contribute to a shortage of skilled, qualified workers, which affects the economic health of both families and entire communities.

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A Guide for Research on Rural Postsecondary Education

One of our investment priorities is to support research to better understand rural learners and postsecondary providers. As part of our work in this area, we partnered with Sova to convene a diverse group of researchers and organizations to develop a national rural postsecondary research agenda. This research agenda lays the groundwork for applied research collaborations that will generate knowledge to help practitioners and policymakers remove systemic barriers faced by rural learners, particularly those from low-income backgrounds.

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Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success

Ascendium is committed to advancing evidence-based research that supports equitable improvements in postsecondary education and workforce outcomes for rural learners. Through this grant opportunity, we will invest in research that generates actionable knowledge, yields evidence-based insights and supports practitioners and policymakers in scaling effective approaches to removing systemic barriers uniquely faced by rural learners.

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Our Three Investment Priorities

Better understand rural learners and the postsecondary education and workforce pathways that best serve them in achieving socioeconomic mobility within rural communities.

  • Support research that equips postsecondary education and workforce training leaders with critical information to help rural learners achieve upward socioeconomic mobility.
  • Support the adaptation of promising student success reform strategies that leverage the strengths of rural communities and address their unique challenges.

Support the adoption and scaling of strategies that promote persistence, completion and workforce success for rural learners.

  • Support and evaluate innovative workforce training models and strategies that connect rural learners to high-quality jobs, including remote employment opportunities.

Support strategic partnerships between and among postsecondary providers, employers and workforce training stakeholders.

  • Identify community-based organizations and intermediaries present in rural areas and explore their role in creating and strengthening pathways to high-quality jobs through postsecondary education or workforce training.

Grants to Support Rural Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training

To learn about our approach to grantmaking (Exploration, Validation, Scaling), visit our How We Fund page.

Implementing the Opportunity Accelerator Program to Expand Postsecondary Pathways for Rural Learners

Exploration
Goodwill Industries International Inc|$2,000,000|8/2023 - 7/2026
This grant supports Goodwill Industries International in expanding its Opportunity Accelerator framework to serve eight rural communities. Local Goodwill centers will develop new training pathways aligned to labor market needs in their regions, providing low-income young adults with training and support to attain jobs that pay a living wage.

Rural Research Support Partner

Exploration
American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences|$569,827|4/2022 - 6/2026
This multi-year, Ascendium-led 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.

Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success

Validation
Urban Institute |$500,000|3/2023 - 2/2026
This grant supports the Urban Institute in refining and testing the Family Friendly Campus Toolkit, which helps institutions better serve parenting students, to fit the context of rural tribal colleges and universities.

Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success

Validation
North Carolina State University|$490,200|3/2023 - 2/2026
This grant supports North Carolina State University in investigating the effectiveness of its statewide Rural College Leaders Program in contributing to student success reforms.

Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success

Validation
University of Idaho|$499,600|3/2023 - 2/2026
This grant supports the University of Idaho in examining which institutional programs and practices—including first-year programs, career advising and other strategies—may best support retention, completion and successful transition to the workforce for rural learners from low-income backgrounds.

Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success

Validation
Georgia State University Research Foundation Inc|$500,000|3/2023 - 2/2026
This grant supports Georgia State University in evaluating the impact of a statewide online instruction initiative on the enrollment, completion and employment outcomes of rural learners.

Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success

Validation
Western Illinois University|$311,100|3/2023 - 2/2026
This grant supports Western Illinois University in investigating whether its Paraprofessional Teacher Education Option program reduces barriers for non‐traditional, rural learners from low-income backgrounds to earn a bachelor’s degree in education and teacher licensure.

Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success

Validation
University of Washington|$449,535|3/2023 - 2/2026
This grant supports the University of Washington in exploring whether rural learners from low‐income backgrounds benefit from postsecondary mentorship programs and identifying best practices for implementing mentorship programs in rural contexts.

Advancing Digital Skilling in Rural America

Exploration
Center on Rural Innovation Inc|$1,331,200|12/2022 - 12/2025
This grant supports the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) in building pathways to tech employment for learners from low-income backgrounds in rural communities. This investment will help six communities in CORI’s Rural Innovation Network to identify tech employment needs among local employers and design and implement tech training programs designed to meet the needs of rural learners and local employers.

Launching Civic Sector Apprenticeships in Rural Communities

Exploration
The Council of State Governments|$693,800|9/2022 - 8/2025
This grant supports the Council of State Governments and the Urban Institute in working with state and local governments and public sector employers in Maine and Idaho to implement apprenticeship programs targeted to learners from low-income backgrounds. New apprenticeships will provide paid training and onramps to good civic sector jobs that are currently experiencing a shortage of qualified workers in rural communities.
View All Ascendium Grants

Latest News

September 27, 2023

Keith Witham Reflects on His First Six Months as Vice President of Education Philanthropy

Halfway through his first year as Vice President of Education Philanthropy, Keith Witham provides an overview of the past six months of Ascendium’s grantmaking. He also looks ahead, reaffirming Ascendium’s commitment to transforming the lives of learners from low-income backgrounds through postsecondary education and workforce training.

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August 24, 2023

Q&A with UIA’s Bridget Burns, Improving Learner Outcomes with Updated CUNY Transfer Explorer, and More

  • Q&A: UIA’s Bridget Burns on Helping Struggling Students Get Back on Track (Part 1)
  • Updated Tool Saves Time and Money to Improve Learner Outcomes
  • Helping Learners See a Clearer Path: Awareness Continues to Build Around Guided Pathways Framework
Read More
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Resources

Project Profile: Surfacing the Needs of Paraeducators Enrolled in Rural Teacher Preparation Programs

A project of the Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success initiative, Western Illinois University examines Paraeducator Teacher Education Option (PTEO) programs. PTEO programs are an alternate pathway to a teaching credential and to the teaching workforce serving rural learners from low-income backgrounds. Stakeholders in rural school districts that employ paraeducators will benefit from the action-oriented research generated.

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Project Profile: The Effect of Institutional Programs and Practices on Low-Income Rural College Students’ Academic, Psychosocial, and Workforce-Related Outcomes

A project of the Building Evidence to Increase Rural Learner Success initiative, the University of Idaho examines the programs and practices that improve rural college students’ educational outcomes and their transition into the workforce. Data, descriptive reports, and insights will be collected, analyzed, and stored within a new dashboard available to stakeholders who make decisions related to rural postsecondary education.

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Kirstin
Yeado

Senior Program Officer,
Support Rural Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training

Valerie
Crespín-Trujillo

Program Officer,
Streamline Key Learner Transitions

Erika
Foster

Associate Program Officer – Support Rural Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training

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