News

For Our Partners: Ascendium’s COVID-19 Response Plan

Read our COVID-19 response

Ascendium donates $85,000 to Dane County Covid-19 Emergency and Recovery Fund

On Friday, March 20 leadership from Boys & Girls Club of Dane County and United Way of Dane County announced a collaborative effort to provide financial relief for individuals and families affected by COVID-19.

Largest-ever Study of Impact of Open Educational Resources in College Reveals Benefits of Introducing OER Courses on a Broad Scale

Community college students taking multiple OER courses earned more credits and similar grades than students who took no OER courses and reported high engagement with course materials; effort saved students $10.7 million and was cost-effective for colleges

Final Ohio ASAP Report Shows Increased Graduation and Transfer Rates

• Meet Ascendium’s New Deputy Director of Grantmaking Miles Wilson
• Promising Early Findings from an Experimental Study of Multiple Measures Assessment and Placement
• ATD’s Open Education Resource Initiative Succeeds in Scaling up Courses

New Grants Support a Spectrum of Student Success Initiatives

• ASU Local: Creating a New Model of College Success
• On the Go: Find Ascendium Staff in the Field

New Initiative Will Help "Optimize" HEP Delivery in MN, IA and NY

• CAPR Conference Reflects on Developmental Education Reform Research and Next Steps
• Reflections on the First Year of the Ascendium Fellowship Program
• New Book from the NAS Spotlights Strategies for Helping Those Not Benefitting from Developmental Math

Ascendium Announces Funding for Three Sites in Major Higher Education in Prison Initiative

Madison, WI— Ascendium Education Group has committed up to $5 million in funding for its new initiative, “Optimizing Delivery Systems for Higher Education in Prison: Postsecondary Pathways for Re-Entry Transition.” This initiative represents Ascendium’s first major project in the higher education in prison (HEP) space since unveiling a new funding strategy featuring HEP as one of four key focus areas earlier this year.

Fall 2019 Grantmaking Update

• Celebrating a New Campus in Our Own Community
• Danielle Vetter to Join Education Grantmaking Team
• On the Go: Find Ascendium Staff in the Field

GFE Annual Conference to Highlight Ascendium Grant Partners’ Great Work

• Mesa, Arizona Wins the FAFSA Completion Challenge
• New NAS Report Explores Strategies for Helping More Students Succeed in Math
• On the Go: Find Ascendium Staff in the Field

Ascendium-Funded Project Helping 13 Wisconsin School Districts “Nudge” Their College-Bound Graduates to Campus as Planned with Timely Texts

Madison, Wis.—As many as 40% of high school graduates from low-income households who have been accepted into college fail to enroll in the fall. The reason? Students must complete a series of crucial tasks over the summer, from finalizing financial aid to arranging campus housing. These tasks can be overwhelming, especially without the support of the school counselors who helped them get that far. This phenomenon, known as “summer melt,” is most prevalent among students who are first in their family to go to college.