Ascendium Education Group grant funds will support two research initiatives to identify policy innovations, legislative actions, and programmatic efforts that address educational barriers for formerly incarcerated individuals.

WASHINGTON – Today’s Students Coalition (TSC) has received a grant from Ascendium Education Group® to examine basic needs policies and practices in postsecondary education at the institutional and state levels that support the retention of justice-impacted learner populations and completion of their credential or degree program.

The grant will fund two research initiatives focused on identifying policy innovations, legislative actions, and programmatic efforts designed to address educational barriers for formerly incarcerated individuals. The first project is a state-level policy landscape analysis examining public benefit access, reentry supports, and higher education policy across all 50 states. The second initiative is an institutional landscape analysis of two- and four-year institutions across rural and urban settings, scanning campus policies and practices that improve access to basic needs supports.

Together, the studies are designed to identify state policies that affect justice-impacted learners’ access to basic needs, how institutions connect learners to benefits, and practices and policy levers that can impact systemic and scalable reform for more students.

“Justice-impacted students are too often left to navigate benefits systems, and campus supports on their own, at the exact moment they need the most stability to succeed academically,” said Tanya Ang, TSC’s executive director. “This research will give states and institutions a clear picture of what’s working, so they can scale the policies and practices that actually keep these learners enrolled and moving toward a degree.”

Findings from both studies aim to inform policy recommendations at the state and federal level and provide guidance for institutions seeking to strengthen basic needs supports for justice-impacted students.

About Today’s Students Coalition
Today’s Students Coalition (TSC) sits at the heart of a diverse group of the nation’s leading policy and advocacy member organizations, affiliates, and student advocates united for impact on federal policy changes that better serve today’s students. The Coalition is dedicated to forging the future of higher education through bipartisan initiatives focused on the needs of modern learners who are working adults, parenting students, military-connected, and first-generation students.

About Ascendium Education Group
Ascendium Education Group® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization driven by the belief that learning after high school gives people the power to build better futures. Our national philanthropy focuses on increasing opportunities for learners from low-income backgrounds to achieve upward mobility through postsecondary education and workforce training. We partner with organizations whose objectives align with our core strategies to expand opportunity, support learner success, and connect and align systems. Our grantees include postsecondary education and workforce training providers, intermediaries, researchers, and media organizations from across the U.S. To learn more, visit www.ascendiumphilanthropy.org