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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.

Resources

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ResourceThumbnail BuildAPromisePlayBook CollegePromise
June 2018

College Promise Campaign Playbook: How to Build a Promise

A resource for elected city and county officials to build College Promise programs for their communities.
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2018 Ascendium Grantee Perception Report
June 2018

2018 Grantee and Applicant Perception Report

We’ve found that one of the best ways to identify areas for improvement is to ask those who know us best—namely, the grant partners we invest in.
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2017 Ascendium AnnualReport
January 2018

2017 Education Philanthropy Report: Building on What Works

We believe in leveraging existing knowledge to evaluate and support strategies that are most likely to have an impact. By building on what works, we can help more students complete their credential.
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2015-2016 Ascendium Summer Melt Closing Report
October 2017

What Does It Take to Launch a Program?

Studies show that well-timed outreach to prospective college freshmen the summer after high school can help support their entrance into college. This report asks the question: What does it take to set up and run a successful summer texting program?
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ResourceThumbnail Boosting Summer Enrollment with Behahioral Science MDRC
September 2017

Ecouraging Additional Summer Enrollment

Promising results show colleges that encourage summer enrollment can help students earn more credits toward their degree. This second MDRC brief recaps both study phases and highlights the impact of proven strategies for increasing summer enrollment.
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2016 Ascendium Annual Philanthropy Report
January 2017

2016 Education Philanthropy Report: Shared Success

We believe that improving completion rates requires focus on both students and institutions—with success being their shared goal.
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ResourceThumbnail CareerReadyInternshipGrantClosingReport 2014 15
April 2016

Career Ready Internship Grant

Ascendium funded $2.1 million in Career Ready Internship grants to 16 Midwest community colleges to establish and administer paid internship programs to give low-income students real-world experience in their area of study.
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Screen Shot 2020 05 21 at 1.10.18 PM
February 2016

2012-2015 Emergency Grant Closing Report

Best practices from the three-year, nearly $1,500,000 grant to fund Ascendium’s (formerly Great Lakes’) first-ever emergency grant program.
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2015 Ascendium Annual Philanthropy Report
January 2016

2015 Education Philanthropy Report: Overcoming Barriers to Graduation

Our 2015 Philanthropy Report highlights the three distinct and purposeful funding approaches we use, and details several grants we made over the past year.
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ResourceThumbnail ImprovingAccuracyRemedialPlacement CCR
July 2015

Improving the Accuracy of Remedial Placement

About half of entering college students take at least one remedial course; of those who take any, the average is 2.6 courses. This is part one of CCRC’s practitioner packet on improving remedial placement.
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2015 Ascendium Survey Results
April 2015

2015 Applicant and Grantee Perception Report

This report summarizes surveys of both grant applicant and grantee opinions of Great Lakes (now Ascendium Education Group), benchmarking the organization’s performance against a database of responses from more than 40,000 grantees of nearly 300. Compiled by the nonprofit Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP).
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