Resource Library | Ascendium Education Group, Inc. Skip to main content

EDUCATION PHILANTHROPY DIVISION OF ASCENDIUM EDUCATION GROUP

Resource Library

Sharing knowledge is at the heart of our mission. Explore Ascendium’s growing library of publications that examine the complex challenges facing postsecondary learners, and how we’re helping our partners address them.

Focus Area
accordion-plus icon accordion-minus icon
Resource Type
accordion-plus icon accordion-minus icon
Clear All Filters
rural higher education

Rural Higher Education: Realities & Opportunities

February 2021
These reports by MDRC are a special supplement to a series of four Rural Matters podcasts which were funded by Ascendium. Offered in these reports are ideas and recommendations for education professionals and policymakers to boost success for postsecondary education and workforce training in rural areas, along with links to listen to the original podcasts.
Visit Site 
Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in Higher Education A Rural Pacific Learning Tour

Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in Higher Education: A Rural Pacific Learning Tour

January 2021
This Ascendium funded report lays out findings and insights gleaned from focus groups of students who live in and/or attend college in the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Islands. The information sheds light on how these rural institutions, students and communities have fared – both prior to the global pandemic and now.
Visit Site 
The Landscape of Higher Education in Prison Programs 2018 2019 thumbnail

The Landscape of Higher Education in Prison Programs 2018-2019

December 2020
This Ascendium-funded report from the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison collects base-level descriptive data to help the field answer key questions about postsecondary education in prison (PEP) programs and is the basis for the National Directory of HEP programs. Report includes data on statistics about PEP programs (by region or state); facility location and participating academic institutions; and a list view of all programs.
Visit Site 
National Directory of Higher Education in Prison thumbnail

National Directory of Higher Education in Prison Programs

December 2020
This Ascendium-funded, interactive directory from the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison collects base-level descriptive data to help the field answer key questions about postsecondary education in prison (PEP) programs. The Directory includes statistics about PEP programs (by region or state); facility location and participating academic institutions; and a list view of all programs.
Visit Site 
Comprehensive Approaches to Increasing Student Completion

Comprehensive Approaches to Increasing Student Completion in Higher Education: A Survey of the Landscape

November 2020
This Ascendium-sponsored paper describes the challenge of college non-completion in the U.S. and a variety of explanations for the high rate of non-completion. This is complemented with an overview of evidence from eight specific college completion interventions designed to increase college completion and the potential to replicate these programs and deliver them at scale.
Visit Site 
Beyond Articulation Agreements Five Student Centered

Beyond Articulation Agreements: Five Student-Centered Principles to Improve Transfer

November 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing millions of students to reconsider their educational plans, a development that’s likely to increase the number of students transferring among institutions in the years ahead. This Ascendium-sponsored report examines new approaches colleges can use with articulation agreements to improve transfer practice and policy.
Visit Site 
Responding in the Moment Practices to Advance a Next Generation Transfer System

Responding in the Moment: Practices to Advance a Next-Generation Transfer System

November 2020
This Aspen brief and its companion (Responding in the Moment: Policies to Advance a Next-Generation Transfer System), both supported by Ascendium, offer specific policy and practice recommendations that can be implemented today to advance transfer student success, both in the short-term and as part of a strategy to address structural barriers.
Visit Site 
A College Lifeline Higher education for incarcerated and rural students

A College Lifeline: Higher Education for Incarcerated and Rural Students — And Why It Matters

November 2020
A College Lifeline, supported with funding from Ascendium, looks at the ways higher ed is serving rural and incarcerated students along with the unique benefits and challenges both educators and students face.
View the PDF
First Class Starting a Postsecondary Education in Prison Program

First Class: Starting a Postsecondary Education in Prison Program

November 2020
This report from the Vera Institute of Justice, supported by funding from Ascendium, outlines guiding principles for launching a successful, high-quality postsecondary education in prison program.
Visit Site 
Responding in the Moment Policies to Advance a Next Generation Transfer System

Responding in the Moment: Policies to Advance a Next-Generation Transfer System

November 2020
This Aspen brief and its companion (Responding in the Moment: Practices to Advance a Next-Generation Transfer System), both supported by Ascendium, offer specific policy and practice recommendations that can be implemented today to advance transfer student success, both in the short-term and as part of a strategy to address structural barriers.
Visit Site 
Building Momentum Using Guided Pathways to Redesign the Student Experience

Building Momentum: Using Guided Pathways to Redesign the Student Experience

November 2020
This report from the Center for Community College Student Engagement, with support from Ascendium, seeks to understand how students are experiencing the developing Guided Pathways movement, asking questions like “Where are we making progress in transforming the student experience?” and “Where is attention still needed?”
Visit Site 
PrisonEducation Ascendium MarketPrimer thumbnail

Market Primer: Educating the Incarcerated

October 2020
Postsecondary education in prison programs are expanding, partly due to the promise of full restoration of Second Chance Pell. What guidance is in place to help new providers offer quality educational offerings, and what obstacles stand in the way of successful program? (Report produced by The Chronicle of Higher Education and sponsored by Ascendium.)
View the PDF