Biden Postsecondary Education Proposals Raise Profile of Evidence-Based Reform Strategies

The Biden Administration’s proposed $1.8 trillion American Families Plan includes sweeping proposals to strengthen and expand postsecondary education. It contains a funding plan for free community college, increased individual Pell Grant awards and $42 billion in support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal Colleges and Universities and other minority-serving institutions.

It also includes $62 billion to invest in evidence-based strategies that strengthen retention and completion rates at community colleges and institutions that serve students from communities most underrepresented in higher education.

This focus on proven strategies targeting underrepresented learners closely parallels Ascendium’s strategy and mission. Our goal is to improve education and career outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds. Our funding strategy explores promising education reforms, validates that they work through evidence-based research and supports their widespread adoption.

Over the years, Ascendium has joined with grant partners and other philanthropies to support numerous initiatives that help the postsecondary education system better serve those who are most underrepresented. Ascendium has contributed funding to the following initiatives that scale evidence-based strategies.

• Developmental education reforms in Strong Start to Finish (Grant partner: Education Commission of the States; Co-funders: The Kresge Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).
• Completion grants (Grant partner: University Innovation Alliance; Co-funder: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).
• Guided pathways implementation (Grant partners: Community College Research Center (CCRC) and others).
• Transfer reform (Grant partner: The Aspen Institute).
• Wraparound supports in the Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), Ohio scaling project (Grant partner: MDRC).
• College placement reform, multiple measures (Grant partners: MDRC and CCRC in Minnesota and Wisconsin).

The Biden Administration’s proposal amplifies the importance of targeted, evidence-based approaches to improving retention and completion rates at institutions serving those who are most underrepresented in postsecondary education. Ascendium remains committed to supporting and promoting such important work now and in the future.