News

In Utah, Major Educational Gaps Exist for Incarcerated People. Here's What's Being Done

Of the 2.3 million people currently incarcerated in the U.S., only 5% have access to high-quality postsecondary education. A new university research center aims to fix that problem by gathering and distributing data that allows states to serve incarcerated learners more equitably.

Rural Community Colleges Utilize Strengths and Assets to Improve Learner Success

Rural community colleges offer many examples and lessons on how to improve postsecondary education success for learners from low-income backgrounds. Institutions across the country can learn from the rural community colleges profiled in the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program’s (CEP) latest report, which highlights how they utilize their strengths and assets to best serve their learners. Insights shared in the report will also inform continued enhancements to CEP’s curriculum for community college leadership and its on-the-ground support of institutions working on transforming to better serve learners.

Amarillo College and Imperial Valley College Win Aspen Institute Prize for Community College Excellence

The biennial prize is the nation’s signature recognition for America’s community colleges. This year’s honorees are two rural-serving schools that beat national rates by achieving 8 and 12 percentage point improvements in graduation rates over four years.

Introducing Our New Program Officer for Strategic Engagement, Amy Kuether

Our Education Philanthropy team continues to grow with the addition of Amy Kuether as program officer for strategic engagement. In this role, she leads investments in strategic media partnerships and field engagement. This role will help further amplify insights generated by our grant partners’ work and extend the impact of our grantmaking.

Lifting Up Postsecondary Education in Prison During Second Chance Month and More

• It’s Time to Change the Way We Think About Incarcerated Learners
• Three Takeaways from RAND Corporation’s Report: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Prison Education
• Record Number of Wisconsin Apprentices Receive Tools of the Trade Scholarships

It’s Time to Change the Way We Think About Incarcerated Learners

As the postsecondary education field recognizes Second Chance Month, Senior Program Officer Molly Lasagna argues it's time to apply what we've learned in broader education reforms to ensure the success of incarcerated learners. Doing so will require building the capacity of the field to be student ready.

Ascendium Releases 2022 Education Philanthropy Report: Meeting the Moment

Ascendium Education Group has released its 2022 Education Philanthropy report, Meeting the Moment. The report tells the story of Ascendium's philanthropy during 2022 as we provided $122 million in new grants to meet the challenges created and compounded by our changing world.

Perspectives from the Field: What it Takes to Translate Postsecondary Credentials to Upward Mobility

Institutions across the U.S., particularly community colleges, continue to experience enrollment declines, pointing to shaky public confidence about the value of a postsecondary education credential. Compounding the issue, learners from low-income backgrounds who complete credentials are often not experiencing upward mobility. The Urban Institute and the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program are doing important work to identify not only high-value credentials — those that lead to good jobs or transfer pathways — but also how community colleges can move more learners into these pathways. They believe that as learners experience upward mobility and communities thrive, a reputation for delivering value will increase community college enrollments.

$1.5 Million in Tools of the Trade Scholarships Given to Wisconsin Apprentices This Year

Ascendium is celebrating its 10th year of the Tools of the Trade Scholarship Program with a record breaking 771 apprentices receiving scholarships for a total of $1,542,000. Since 2013, Ascendium has awarded scholarships to eligible construction and industrial trade apprentices in the Wisconsin Technical College System to assist with expenses related to their apprenticeship including the purchase of tools, equipment and clothing, curriculum costs and more.

Three Takeaways from RAND Corporation’s Report: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Prison Education

Beginning in late 2020, RAND Corporation undertook a comprehensive assessment of the impact that the COVID-19 health crisis had, and continues to have, on postsecondary education in prison programs. The goal of this project was to collect critical information that can help inform educators, colleges, corrections officials and policymakers about the overall impact of the health crisis and its effects on access to postsecondary education in prison programs, along with options to mitigate the short- and long-term adverse consequences.