Awarded Grants

This grant supports the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) in building pathways to tech employment for learners from low-income backgrounds in rural communities. This investment will help six communities in CORI’s Rural Innovation Network to identify tech employment needs among local employers and design and implement tech training programs designed to meet the needs of rural learners and local employers.

This grant supports Jobs for the Future (JFF) in working with postsecondary system leaders in Washington and North Carolina to implement comprehensive statewide student success reforms. With JFF’s support, system leaders in North Carolina will develop statewide strategies for rural education and training aligned to future workforce needs. System leaders in Washington will design a statewide student advising platform to improve accountability and compliance with state requirements for community colleges.

This grant supports MDRC in engaging in a continuous cycle of rigorous research, active dissemination and hands-on technical assistance that builds the capacity of colleges and workforce training providers to improve outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds.

This grant supports the Jesuit Prison Education Network (JPEN), a nationwide coalition of Jesuit colleges, in developing best practices and sharing resources to strengthen postsecondary education in prison programs across the network. JPEN and its research center, the Jesuit Social Research Institute, will strengthen the capacity of member programs to evaluate their programs and build capacity for continuous improvement.

This grant supports WestEd in providing customized support to rural community colleges to help them improve institutional research and data use capabilities, and in the application of those capabilities for federal grant applications and institutional planning efforts. The grant will support up to 20 rural-located/serving institutions—including tribal colleges—and provide an additional 20 colleges with customized coaching.

This grant supports Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison Inc in expanding its programming to more students transitioning from in-prison to free-world postsecondary education. It will also enable Hudson Link to engage in a formative evaluation to improve its services and share lessons learned with other program operators.

This grant supports the Institute for Nonprofit News’ Rural News Network in collaborating with ten rural newsrooms to develop greater coverage of postsecondary education and workforce training issues in rural communities and highlight the experiences of rural learners.

This grant supports The Aspen Institute College Excellence Program in supporting a cohort of 10 community colleges to implement policy and practice reforms that will increase the postgraduation success of their students, namely students of color and learners from low-income backgrounds.

This grant supports The Chronicle of Higher Education in developing multimedia and interactive content for the Different Voices of Student Success Resource Center, which highlights insights about improving learner outcomes, social mobility, and the reskilling of workers.

This grant supports Work Shift News, a project of Open Campus Media, in continuing and expanding its reporting focused on trends, opportunities, and challenges in postsecondary education and workforce training.