For Jessica Gonzalez, the future looks bright. Leaders can take steps to ensure more students like her are set up for success after graduation.
We need to ensure that the return on investment is equitable for all students.
Many HBCUs, especially those in rural areas, have insufficient access to testing. The U.S. Program is offering grants to improve critical diagnostic testing infrastructure for these institutions.
By Allan C. Golston President, U.S. Program, Gates Foundation
Our strategy Our strategyOur efforts to improve postsecondary success, which go back more than a decade, puts students at the center and is guided by these beliefs:
We support colleges and universities that are committed to transformation—making significant and lasting change to dramatically improve student outcomes and eliminate race, ethnicity, and income as predictors of student success. For our team, transformation includes having a student-centered mission, setting goals and being accountable for them, using data to make decisions, creating a collaborative environment, and making a commitment to continuous improvement.
I don’t have a particularly strong appetite for the phrase "When we get back to normal." I don’t want to get back to normal, because "normal" in American higher education is not currently living up to its potential as an engine of equitable social and economic mobility. But I am optimistic that this enterprise can live up to its potential, which is why we continue to invest.
Patrick Methvin
Director, Postsecondary Success
Visit our U.S. Program websiteOur U.S. Program works to ensure that everyone in the U.S. can learn, grow, and get ahead, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or family income.
Areas of focus Areas of focusWe work to ensure equitable opportunity for postsecondary students by supporting innovation that provides courses and programs that meet their needs and strong, reliable pathways to a certificate or degree that has value; institutional transformation that focuses on them and their educational paths; data and information that can help them and the leaders who support them make informed choices; and policies that provide strong incentives for colleges and universities to focus on inclusion and accountability.
Navigating the path to a certificate or degree can be challenging and costly. We work with colleges and universities that are taking the lead in implementing innovations that help students identify and get on a path to a certificate or degree, stay on that path, and ensure that they are learning along the way. We focus on innovation in three key areas: digital teaching and learning, developmental education, and student support.
A growing number of colleges and universities have created and/or expanded holistic support services for their students to help improve retention and completion rates, particularly for students of color, first-generation students, and students from low-income backgrounds. Investments in this area focus on equipping more colleges and universities with seamless, personalized delivery of advising and support interventions across a student’s educational journey – including academic and career planning, case management, analytics, alerts & notifications, and engagement.
Our work with colleges and universities and the organizations supporting them focuses on transformation—building capacity to dramatically improve student outcomes and eliminate racial and income gaps. We engage directly with a diverse group of institutions and intermediaries to generate tools and resources to support transformation efforts and support the creation of networks to connect institutions with these resources and with each other to accelerate learning.
We are working toward a comprehensive data strategy across U.S. higher education that ensures efficient, consistent, and transparent collection and reporting of key performance metrics—including and especially value—to enable students, institutional leaders, and policymakers to make informed decisions about the value of different postsecondary pathways.
Federal and state policies affect who colleges and universities serve and how they are served. Our policy focus is on money and measures. We are interested in how public funds are allocated and spent to help today’s college students (especially low-income and first-generation students, students of color, and working adults) and how colleges and universities are measuring and being held accountable for their progress and success.
Why focus on postsecondary success? Why focus on postsecondary success?Higher education has historically been an engine of social mobility and economic growth in the United States, but as costs rise and colleges and universities face growing financial pressures, disparities in access and success by race, ethnicity, and income persist and student financial aid systems are stretched to the limit—all at a time when our economy needs more educated workers than ever.
Left unaddressed, these trends will leave the U.S. economy without the skilled workforce it needs to remain competitive and will increase inequity. The political and social implications for our nation are profound and unacceptable. They are also avoidable.
Research and innovation at colleges and universities across the country are yielding promising solutions that could increase student success rates and ensure that all students receive a high-quality educational experience that is tailored to their needs, academic abilities, and career goals.
These solutions include technology-enabled teaching and student advising tools as well as systems that gather and analyze data to help institutions improve their performance and student outcomes.
A math student at Foothill College, a community college in Los Altos Hills, California. Strategy leadership Sign up for The Optimist newsletterSubscribe to The Optimist to get weekly updates on the latest in global health, gender equality, education, and more.
Visit our U.S. Program websiteThe foundation's U.S. Program works to ensure that everyone in the U.S. can learn, grow, and get ahead, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or family income. We work with local leaders and engage with state and federal policymakers to support efforts that transform schools, systems, and society to create life-changing opportunities for learning, growth, and prosperity.
Related programs Related programsThe foundation's programs in the U.S. work to transform schools, systems, and society to create life-changing opportunities for learning, growth, and prosperity.
K-12 Education
The K-12 education team works to improve K-12 teaching and learning, with a focus on math as the cornerstone skill for academic success and greater opportunities in the workforce.
Economic Mobility and Opportunity
The Economic Mobility and Opportunity team works to help the U.S. economic system better meet the needs of those experiencing poverty and significantly increase their opportunities to achieve economic success.
Washington State
The Washington State team works with partners to ensure equitable opportunities for children and families in Washington, where the Gates family has lived for generations.
Sign up for The Optimist newsletterSubscribe to The Optimist to get weekly updates on the latest in global health, gender equality, education, and more.
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