All Grants

This grant supports the Jim Elliott Tools of the Trade Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships to students in apprenticeship programs at Milwaukee Area Technical College. Each spring, 20 apprentices with financial need receive funds (initially $1,000, increased to $1,500 in 2018) to help cover the cost of equipment, work clothes and other related expenses.

This grant supports the Tools of the Trade Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships to construction and industrial trade apprentices attending a Wisconsin Technical College System college. Each spring, 230 apprentices with financial need receive funds to help cover the cost of equipment, work clothes and other related expenses.

The grant supports the Aspen Institute in researching and awarding the 2021 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence and the development of a new suite of curricular resources to advance student success at rural community colleges.

This grant supports RAND Corporation in examining stackable credential pipelines in two states to determine whether learners from low-income backgrounds benefit from stackable credentials, whether they face barriers in accessing these pathways and which institutional and system level policies and programs strengthen equity. The goal is to inform efforts within the two states and nationally to build effective and equitable stackable credential pipelines for learners from low-income backgrounds.

This grant supports the Urban Institute in assessing which workforce-aligned approaches of postsecondary education institutions are most critical for the success of learners from low-income backgrounds in the labor market. The Urban Institute will conduct a multi-faceted research project, including a return on investment analysis that will ultimately provide information on promising and effective programs, policies, resources and strategies that support success for learners.

This grant supports the University of Hawaii System (UH) in developing articulated career pathways that lead from high-demand, entry-level healthcare occupations to advancement in skills, education, career and earnings. UH will develop clear career pathways and institutionalize the necessary policies and data infrastructure that provide opportunities for learners to transition from non-credit job training to credit-based degrees by leveraging apprenticeships and stackable industry-valued credentials.

This grant supports Vera Institute of Justice in providing meaningful and in-depth technical assistance, training and advising to new and existing Second Chance Pell Initiative college sites and their state corrections system partners. The goal is to ensure the implementation of high-quality postsecondary education in prison and to help the field grow a cohort of correctional administrators prepared to support the broad expansion of such programs.

This grant supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and its members in continuing to advance student success reforms despite COVID-19-related impacts.

This grant supports the New America Foundation in examining the role that community college baccalaureates play in meeting employer demand for degrees, as well as demand for affordable bachelors degrees for low-income and rural communities.

This grant supports Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund in building the capacity of rural Pacific Island postsecondary institutions to analyze data and use collaborative research strategies to improve their policies and practices. The initiative will increase Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander student success by developing pathways that lead to workforce participation through partnerships and institutional innovation.