Our Focus Areas

CONCERN

The era when a high school diploma was enough to climb the ladder into America’s middle class is long gone. In today’s global economy, a college degree or market-ready credential has become the minimum requirement to access our nation’s social and economic opportunity ladders. Access to higher education, therefore, cannot remain a privilege afforded to a few when it has become a prerequisite to achieving greater success for all.

For generations, the nation has focused on and celebrated, the increasing number of students who make it to our nation’s first class colleges and universities, whether they offer 2-year or 4-year degrees, or a market-ready credential. Unfortunately, for too many students, their ultimate goal of graduation has eluded them. The nation must redouble its efforts to ensure that the goal in higher education is not only increased enrollment, but increased graduation, attainment and completion as well.

APPROACH

We believe that public-private nonprofit partnerships, effective advocacy and meaningful engagement can drive reform and innovation, spur completion and attainment rates, and foster economic stability and growth in historically underserved urban communities.

In order to increase the number of students who persist to graduation and attain degrees and credentials, we need a clear-cut local, state and national focus that:

• Supports a range of higher education institutions, including HBCUs, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), Community Colleges and those that offer market-ready credentials.
• Establishes “early-warning” indicators.
• Explores the potential of innovations such as individualized instruction, virtual learning, flipped classrooms, stacked and latticed credentials, modern apprenticeships and co-ops, competency-based education, and accelerated degree options.