Opportunity for All

The growing skepticism about the value of a college degree — and the disconnect between education and career fueling it — is hard to ignore. Harder still is separating that skepticism from the daily reality of learners navigating an often unforgiving system. And yet, from where I sit, leading a body of work at one of the nation’s largest postsecondary funders focused on learners from low-income backgrounds, I continue to believe in the power of education and workforce training to change lives. Every single day, it does.

That impact, however, isn’t felt equally. For too many learners, especially those from underserved communities, the promise of postsecondary education goes unrealized. Opportunity is often constrained by factors that have little to do with a learner’s motivation or ability. Many live in places with limited or nonexistent programs. Others face costs — financial, time-related, or opportunity-based — that are simply too high to overcome. Still others don’t see themselves reflected in traditional college classrooms or degree pathways or find that the programs within reach fail to deliver the outcomes they need to advance.

We’ve long asked learners to conform to the structures of the education system. But if we want more people to succeed, we need to build systems that fit learners instead — ones that reflect the realities of their lives, and that make truly valuable opportunities more accessible from the start. When access to high-quality options is limited, the consequences ripple outward. Jobs go unfilled because potential candidates don’t know if they qualify or can’t find a viable training pathway. Learners stop out of degree programs without relevant alternatives. Incumbent workers miss out on upskilling opportunities and remain stuck in low-wage jobs.

This is both an educational challenge and a missed economic opportunity, and it’s one we can’t afford to ignore.

At Ascendium, we’re not just interested in expanding the number of options available to learners. We’re focused on making sure those options are more relevant, effective, and closely aligned with both learners’ goals and labor market needs. Short-term training programs that don’t lead to a credential of value — or that funnel learners into dead-end jobs — won’t help them advance. Instead, we must invest in opportunities that are affordable and flexible, lead to real career prospects with family-sustaining wages, and help learners progress toward long-term goals without leading to dead ends.

A college degree remains a rewarding path for many learners, but it isn’t the right fit, or even a feasible option, for everyone. Life circumstances, economic pressures, and shifting labor market demands mean that many learners need different types of opportunities. And with a growing number of good jobs that don't require a four-year degree, alternative pathways are more relevant than ever. We share the vision of a system that makes “alternative” pathways available, as well as visible, viable, and valuable. That means ensuring learners clearly understand the cost, payoff, and purpose of the options in front of them.

To meet this moment, we need a broader, more responsive, consistently high-quality system of opportunity for all learners. The good news is that innovation is happening across the country. We’re seeing promising models that blend education with employment, align with regional workforce needs, and center learners who’ve long been underserved by traditional systems. These approaches are showing what’s possible, but they need support, evidence, and the chance to grow.

The problem isn’t always simply a lack of options. If anything, there can be too many, and selecting the “right” one can be overwhelming. What’s missing is clarity. It's almost impossible for a learner to determine which programs will truly deliver a good return on their investment.

This is the work of Ascendium’s Expand Opportunity strategy. We are working toward a future in which all learners have enough good options. To get there, we’re focused on learning what works, for whom, and under what conditions. If college isn’t the right fit, learners should still be able to find, afford, and complete high-quality postsecondary education and workforce training programs that lead to meaningful careers.

As you read further in this newsletter, I hope you'll gain a clearer sense of our commitment to innovation, evidence-building, and scaling education and training opportunities that truly serve today’s learners. That includes supporting models that reach beyond traditional college pathways, generating credible evidence about what works and why, and fostering partnerships among educators, workforce systems, and employers to build and sustain new approaches. When we say we’re working to Expand Opportunity, we mean building a future where all learners — regardless of race, rurality, history of incarceration, or any other factor that too often stands in their way — have access to real choices and meaningful outcomes.