Resource Library

Reverse credit transfer is an emerging policy that awards an associate degree retroactively to students who hadn’t been awarded one before transferring from a two-year to a four-year school. This study examines how reverse credit transfer impacts students’ education and career outcomes using data from Texas, where the legislature mandated the policy in 2011. Ascendium funded this research as part of Degrees when Due, a completion and equity initiative to increase degree attainment among the "some college, no degree" population.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center released the third of a nine-part series, which Ascendium co-funded to provide institutions and researchers with near real-time data on how the COVID-19 health crisis is impacting transfer students. This report shows the community college sector with a 15.2% transfer decline, a worrisome trend for learners from low-income backgrounds.

Our 2020 report, Empowering Possibilities, tells the story of our philanthropy during an unprecedented time and the tremendous efforts of our grant partners who were able to advance their work despite numerous challenges.

This resource by Education Strategy Group provides postsecondary education leaders with an action-oriented toolkit to help pandemic-displaced workers gain new skills and credentials as they re-enter the workforce. Co-funded by Ascendium and The Kresge Foundation, it includes evidence-based strategies, resources and a process to create a rapid response action plan.

This new report by Next Generation Sector Partnerships documents the lifecycle of six unique partnerships across the U.S. as they worked to align education, workforce and economic development needs of their regional economies. With funding support from Ascendium, these profiles and framework are intended to add to the growing set of tools available for public and private partners.

The College System of Tennessee analyzed re-enrollment, transfer and completion patterns for 113,000 of its learners who reconnected with its community colleges. This Ascendium-funded working paper identifies four distinct reconnector groups and includes research and action steps for institutions to consider.

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing millions of students to reconsider their educational plans, a development that’s likely to increase the number of students transferring among institutions in the years ahead. This Ascendium-sponsored report examines new approaches colleges can use with articulation agreements to improve transfer practice and policy.

This overview of one of Ascendium’s funding focus area explores Ascendium’s investment priorities for streamlining diverse pathways into and through postsecondary education and learner transitions into the workforce, and the desired outcomes of that support.

This overview of Ascendium's education philanthropy details our strategic approach to philanthropy: how, where and what we fund, our four focus areas and our belief in the power of education for upward social mobility.

2019 was not only our first full year under the Ascendium name, we literally sharpened our focus to four areas: removing structural barriers, postsecondary education in prison, rural education and workforce training, and streamlining transitions.

A practical guide to setting a vision and key practices for talent development and economic mobility, balancing the needs of students and employers to advance the overall prosperity of their regions, from the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program.

Our 2018 report, Clearing the Path, highlights our belief in catalyzing lasting change that reduces barriers that arise throughout a student’s progression from enrollment through program completion to gainful employment.