Frequently Asked Questions About Ascendium’s Grantmaking

Ascendium’s grantmaking is primarily invitation-only, and we do not generally accept unsolicited proposals. On occasion, we may issue requests for proposals tied to specific initiatives, but these are limited in number.

That said, we welcome outreach from organizations with ideas or potential projects that may align with our core strategies. We encourage you to first review the strategy pages on our website to understand our priorities and assess whether your work aligns with our goals. Each page includes contact information for the Ascendium team members best suited to answer project-specific questions.

If you’re unsure where to direct your message, you’re welcome to email us at philanthropy@ascendiumeducation.org. We’ll make sure your inquiry reaches the right person. While we receive a high volume of requests, we’re committed to being as responsive as possible.

If you believe your project aligns with our strategies, we welcome a brief message that includes a short description of your work and how you see it aligning with our focus.

Ascendium typically funds initiatives with the potential for broad impact, often working through intermediaries or networks of institutions rather than individual colleges or universities. We generally do not support initiatives focused solely on a single institution, except in the case of research and evaluation partners based at those institutions.

We also support media partners who help highlight critical issues in postsecondary education and share promising solutions that can inform the field.

Ascendium funds initiatives through three core strategies — Expand Opportunity, Support Learner Success, and Connect and Align Systems — as well as cross-strategy efforts. We have a national focus with no geographic limitations, supporting a broad range of initiatives that align with our mission to champion opportunity for everyone.

We align our grantmaking with different stages of innovation and evidence building — using exploration grants to test and refine new ideas or models, validation grants to build rigorous evidence for promising approaches, and scaling grants only for those supported by strong evidence. Our scaling grants typically focus on expanding proven approaches to reach more learners and on creating the conditions for broader adoption and support beyond philanthropy.

Ascendium focuses on advancing opportunity for upward mobility by supporting learning after high school. We fund systems, institutions, and other providers that deliver postsecondary education and workforce training. We support high school-level reforms only when they involve students already participating in postsecondary education, such as through dual or concurrent enrollment.

Yes, Ascendium’s grantmaking is designed to support learners from low-income backgrounds, regardless of whether they live in rural or urban areas. We specifically emphasize rural learners because of the need to address the unique contexts and strengths of rural communities in our strategies.

Ascendium supports incarcerated and justice-involved learners through all three of our major strategies. Our Ready for Pell initiative, for example, helped postsecondary institutions prepare to access Pell Grant funds for incarcerated learners. Our work continues to focus on closing the Pell implementation gap, ensuring that Pell Grant funds are deployed effectively for incarcerated learners. We also prioritize expanding comprehensive support systems to help learners succeed in postsecondary education in prison programs and supporting reentry pathways for those transitioning back into their communities.

In line with our North Star, Ascendium envisions a world where all learners from low-income backgrounds succeed in postsecondary education and workforce training, regardless of factors such as race, rurality, and history of incarceration. We recognize that learners from low-income backgrounds include adult learners, veterans, student parents, first-generation college students, and others. Our grantmaking supports efforts designed to address the unique needs of these groups to ensure they have access to the opportunities and resources they need to thrive.