News

Over $11M in New Grants, Innovative Reentry Campus Program Delivery, New Education Philanthropy Team Member and More

• Over $11 Million Invested in Grants to Support Community College Student Success, Postsecondary Completion and More
• Reentry Campus Program Takes Innovative Approach to Delivering Postsecondary Education in Prison
• Education Philanthropy Team Welcomes New Hire with Community College System Expertise

Over $11 Million Invested in Grants to Support Community College Student Success, Postsecondary Completion and More

Recently, Ascendium approved new grants totaling over $11 million. These grants support a range of work, including but not limited to, student success at community colleges, the organization of stakeholders across multiple states to address the challenges of postsecondary education in prison regionally and technical assistance to rural community colleges interested in applying for federal grant dollars.

Education Philanthropy Team Welcomes New Hire with Community College System Expertise

Ascendium’s Education Philanthropy is excited to share a new program officer has joined our team! Valerie Crespín-Trujillo will support strategic grantmaking in our Streamline Key Learner Transitions and Support Rural Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training focus areas. Her valuable knowledge and experience with community college systems makes her a great addition to our team, and we look forward to exploring how those experiences can inform our future grantmaking.

Future Workforce Supported by Ascendium with $1,500 Tools of the Trade Scholarships Going to Over 500 Wisconsin Apprentices

Five hundred eleven construction and industrial trade apprentices have been awarded scholarships through Ascendium’s Tools of the Trade Scholarship program this year. In its ninth year, the scholarship program benefits apprentices with financial need in the Wisconsin Technical College System.

Ascendium Education Group Releases 2021 Education Philanthropy Report: Stronger Together

Ascendium Education Group has released its 2021 Education Philanthropy report, Stronger Together. The report tells the story of Ascendium’s philanthropy during 2021 and what can be achieved through partnership and collaboration.

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.

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.

Grant Explores How to Take Competency-Based Education to a System Level

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System Foundation is launching a yearlong planning project to research what it would take to implement a competency-based education platform at scale within its general education, career, technical and workforce training programs. Ascendium’s investment of $614,000 supports the project under our grantmaking focus area Streamline Key Learner Transitions.

Data Project Will Clarify COVID-19's Impact on Equity in College Transfer

Ascendium's project with the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center will provide much-needed, near-real time data on college student transfers in the COVID-19 era