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EDUCATION PHILANTHROPY DIVISION OF ASCENDIUM EDUCATION GROUP

All Grants

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NCII Impact Fund - Rural Guided Pathways

Scaling
New Venture Fund|$3,392,450|10/2021 - 9/2024
This grant supports the NCII Impact Fund, a project of the New Venture Fund, in developing and delivering a regionalized approach to guided pathways focused on rural institutions. This three year support model would be a first-of-its-kind approach to guided pathways implementation that includes community colleges, as well as workforce, employer, K12 and university partners as core members of the implementation team.

Preparing for Pell Grant Eligibility for Incarcerated Learners

Scaling
National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators|$201,125|4/2023 - 9/2024
This grant supports the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators in providing technical support to financial aid offices preparing for the return of Pell grant eligibility for incarcerated learners.

Connected Pathways for Tribal Colleges and Universities

Exploration
Wakiya Foundation Inc|$750,000|10/2022 - 9/2024
This grant supports the Wakiya Foundation in piloting the development of new, career-aligned bachelor’s degree programs at three tribal colleges in Montana. In partnership with the tribal college leaders and Western Governors University (WGU), Wakiya Foundation will lead a process of using labor market data to identify in-demand jobs for which no postsecondary education programs currently exist for tribal learners, and to fill those gaps through offerings delivered jointly by the tribal colleges and WGU.

Exploring Field-Driven Placement Innovation to Promote Student Success

Exploration
Phase Two Advisory|$661,900|3/2023 - 8/2024
This grant supports Phase Two Advisory in exploring how innovative community colleges’ implementation of placement reforms may contribute to comprehensive changes in student instruction, advising and supports in the first year. This exploratory research will identify and document strategies to ensure placement reforms reach all students and are institutionalized into college structures and norms.

STEM Transfer Partnerships

Exploration
University of Washington|$1,173,375|9/2021 - 8/2024
This grant supports the University of Washington in implementing a statewide consortium of institutional partnerships to increase successful transfer for low-income learners in STEM programs. Relying on the evidence-based framework for transfer partnerships developed by the institution's Community College Research Initiatives, this project endeavors to institutionalize collaborative partnerships at the departmental level, leading to long-term structural improvements in transfer policy and practice.

Curricular Analytics

Validation
Colorado State University|$1,997,600|9/2021 - 8/2024
This grant supports the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities, hosted at Colorado State University, in validating the relationship between curricular structure and equitable student outcomes. A network of national senior leaders will collaborate to develop and test strategies for using their institutional data to engage faculty in revising university curriculum.

Equity and Policy Alignment to Drive Student Graduation Rates and Close Attainment Gaps

Exploration
Complete College America Inc|$1,750,000|9/2021 - 8/2024
This grant supports Complete College America in building capacity for networks of institutions to implement equity-centered completion policies and practices.

Maintain Momentum: Supporting Postsecondary Education Membership Organizations and Networks

Scaling
Community Colleges of the Appalachian Region|$512,400|11/2021 - 8/2024
This grant supports Community Colleges of the Appalachian Region and its members in continuing to advance student success reforms despite COVID-19-related impacts.

NACUBO Strategically Financing Structures to Remove Barriers

Exploration
National Association of College and University Business Officers|$2,999,100|9/2021 - 8/2024
This grant supports the National Association of College and University Business Officers in creating a network of postsecondary leaders equipped to transform their institutions through strategic finance. The project will produce frameworks, tools and models that will change how colleges analyze, prioritize and fund their initiatives committed to equitable student outcomes.

Assessing Quality and Equitable Access and Outcomes of Distance Postsecondary Courses for the Incarcerated

Validation
American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences|$700,000|7/2021 - 6/2024
This grant supports the American Institutes for Research in conducting a study to identify and examine high quality and equitable distance education practices among a select group of postsecondary education in prison providers offering courses that lead to a credential or degree. By producing evidence on the strengths and weaknesses of different distance education options, this study hopes to determine a connection between characteristics of program quality and student success outcomes.