All Grants

This grant supports the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities at Colorado State University in exploring the viability of data definitions and standards for making transparent how credits apply to degree program requirements. Outcomes could include the development of a pilot for institutional reporting on degree program requirements to inform a future national transfer student exchange system that helps students understand and plan degree pathways across two-year and four-year institutions.

This grant supports Digital Promise Global in exploring the impact of a state‐funded training and wage‐based incentive program (Child Care WAGE$ Tennessee) designed to create living‐wage career paths for early childhood educators in rural communities.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This grant supports Community Colleges of the Appalachian Region and its members in continuing to advance student success reforms despite COVID-19-related impacts.

This grant supports Academic Intelligence in producing the Future U. podcast series, which features interviews with national thought leaders and innovators working to improve student success in postsecondary education. Future U. will produce four episodes that specifically explore issues related to and insights generated from Ascendium’s grantmaking.

This grant supports the Alliance for Higher Education in Prison in fostering collaboration among critical stakeholders in the postsecondary education in prison field. The Alliance for Higher Education in Prison will solidify its role as a national convener and resource hub for the field.

This grant supports American Institutes for Research in the Behavioral Sciences in researching and designing an initiative focused on supporting experienced postsecondary education in prison programs in sharing their knowledge and resources with other programs to accelerate their meeting new federal regulations for receiving Pell Grants.