Grant To Help Three Regional Networks Develop Equity-Centered Student Success Programs

A $1.75 million grant from Ascendium Education Group hopes to help Complete College America (CCA) close race and income gaps in postsecondary education.

The grant will fund a three-phase, 36-month project in which administrators, faculty and student services staff from three "CCA Alliance states," or regional sites, will create and implement data-driven and equity-centered strategies to boost student success and graduation rates.

CCA Alliance networks exist throughout the nation and are composed of "states, systems, institutional consortia and partner organizations" that work together to improve college attainment. CCA hasn't yet announced which three Alliance states will be participating in this specific grant.

“This remarkable gift from Ascendium Education Group will accelerate CCA’s work of scaling highly effective structural reforms and promoting policies that improve student success across the country, particularly for racialized minorities, families from low-income backgrounds, first-generation students, working learners, and those experiencing challenges specific to urban or rural environments,” said Dr. Yolanda Watson Spiva, CCA’s president. “This project will allow those states and systems who are ready and willing to transform their postsecondary institutions, to directly focus their efforts on equitable completion outcomes.”