News

$18.5 Million in Newly Approved Grants to Support Student Success, Workforce Mobility, Rural Guided Pathways

Ascendium’s Board of Directors recently approved 18 new grants totaling $18.5 million, including efforts with the Urban Institute, the Georgetown Center for Education and the Workforce and six other new grant partners. Among the new grants are initiatives that support campus finance leaders in advancing student success reforms, help postsecondary institutions identify successful workforce-relevant strategies for low-income learners and build the capacity of rural institutions to adopt guided pathways reforms.

Ascendium Looking to Hire Passionate People Wanting to Make Impactful Change, Q&A with Program Officers Shares Insight into Supporting Adult Learners

• Ascendium’s Grantmaking Team Strives for Impactful Change and Is Looking for Individuals Who Share this Passion
• Investing in Projects that Support Adult Learners
• Grant Explores Meaningful Workforce Partnerships

New Report: College Transfers Plunged Last Year, But Highly Selective Institutions Saw Gains

Ascendium and ECMC Foundation funded the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center’s COVID-19 Transfer, Mobility and Progress Report series to provide institutions and researchers with near real-time data on how the COVID-19 health crisis is impacting transfer students. This is the year-end report and analysis for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Ascendium’s Grantmaking Team Strives for Impactful Change and Is Looking for Individuals Who Share this Passion

Keith Witham, Ascendium’s new deputy director - education grantmaking, shares his thoughts about education philanthropy in a time of unprecedented challenge and his hopes for meeting those challenges by filling key positions on a growing team.

Improving Transfer Outcomes One Project at a Time

Over 2 million learners transferred between institutions during the 2020-2021 academic year, a new report from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) Research Center details. Ascendium remains committed to supporting projects and initiatives that ease transitions for those transferring between, and returning to, postsecondary education providers. This year, Ascendium has funded projects that study transfer data, produce compelling resources and provide opportunities for leaders to connect so they can work toward improving transfer outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds.

Investing in Projects that Support Adult Learners

According to The Graduate! Network, 45 million adults 25 years or older in the U.S. have earned some college credit, but no degree. This specific population of learners represents 20% of the adult population. With the COVID-19 health crisis impacting employment opportunities, many of these adults are returning to postsecondary education. Learn more from members of our grantmaking team about how and why Ascendium is supporting projects that aim to improve the transition to and through postsecondary education for these returning adult learners at a critical time in their academic journey.

New National Rural Postsecondary Research Agenda available, Washington Consortium One Year After Maintain Momentum Grant and More

• National Rural Postsecondary Research Agenda Now Available
• At One-Year Mark, Washington Consortium is Maintaining Momentum
• New Media Partnerships Spotlight Topics in Postsecondary Education

A Recommendation to ‘Reset,’ Not ‘Fix,’ Broken Transfer System

The Tackling Transfer Policy Advisory Board released a report on rethinking the traditional focus on transfer to address the need for a modern, student-centered transfer system through changes in federal, state and higher education policies. The board collaborated with the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, HCM Strategist and Sova Solutions to produce this report promoting transfer policy reform. Ascendium supports the Aspen Institute's transfer efforts through our focus area to streamline key learner transitions.

Rural community colleges respond to health crisis, a look at non-traditional models for students transitioning from training to the workforce and more

• Resources Help Rural Community Colleges in Aftermath of COVID-19 Health Crisis
• An Interest in Innovation: New Grants Explore Non-Traditional Models
• Keith Witham Named Ascendium’s New Deputy Director - Education Grantmaking

Keith Witham Named Ascendium’s New Deputy Director - Education Grantmaking

Ascendium welcomes Keith Witham as our new Deputy Director - Education Grantmaking. He will provide day-to-day supervision and support to program officers across Ascendium’s four focus areas to maximize the impact of investments that support learners from low-income backgrounds.