Strada collaborates with students, policymakers, educators, and employers across the U.S. to strengthen the link between education and opportunity.
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We prioritize policies, practices, and programs that help ensure postsecondary education provides equitable pathways to opportunity.
We advance our mission through research, grantmaking, social impact investments, public policy solutions, Strada-supported nonprofit organizations, and strategic initiatives.
We help strengthen the link between education and opportunity.
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Strada Education Foundation supports programs, policies, and organizations that strengthen connections between postsecondary education and opportunity in the U.S., with a focus on helping people who face the greatest challenges. We advance this mission through research, grantmaking, social impact investments, public policy solutions, and Strada-supported nonprofit organizations, including CAEL, Education at Work, InsideTrack, and Roadtrip Nation.
In short, we help strengthen the link between education and opportunity.
Our North Star, adopted unanimously by our Board of Trustees in 2022, is to collaborate with learners, educators, employers, and policymakers across the U.S. to bring to life a postsecondary education and training ecosystem that provides equitable pathways to opportunity.
We embrace the multiple important purposes of postsecondary education, including strengthening communication and critical thinking skills, preparing individuals for responsible citizenship, expanding intellectual interests, and helping people to navigate an increasingly diverse and global society.
We recognize that preparation for meaningful work is just one of the multiple purposes of higher education, yet it is also one of the most important reasons individuals cite for pursuing some form of education after high school. Without the opportunity for meaningful work and economic security, other benefits of education are unlikely to be fully realized.
Headquartered in Indianapolis since our predecessor organization, USA Funds, was first established in 1960 to expand access to higher education in the U.S., Strada has focused on strengthening the link between education and opportunity (i.e., success beyond completion of a degree or other postsecondary credential) for the last decade.
Several principles guide our work. We prioritize efforts that benefit individuals pursuing postsecondary education or training in the U.S. We place a primary focus on helping people who have faced the greatest challenges accessing postsecondary education and/or economic opportunity (e.g., low-income individuals, people of color, first-generation students). We focus most of our efforts on ecosystem-scale changes that can benefit large numbers of individuals, with a secondary focus on direct impact efforts. We are sector agnostic, working with both traditional higher education institutions and quality alternative providers. Finally, we work to cultivate public policy solutions with the potential for bipartisan support.
As we look toward the future, we will continue to collaborate with students, educators, employers, policymakers, and other partners to help create more equitable pathways to prosperity in the U.S.
At Strada, we work with our partners — students, policymakers, educators, and employers across the U.S. — to ensure learning after high school provides equitable pathways to opportunity.
We build relationships with educational institutions, workforce development organizations, employers, innovative startups, membership associations, and other funders.
Our team includes experts in higher education, philanthropy, research, workforce development, economic development, public policy, and impact investing. We work together to strengthen the link between education and opportunity.
Report indicates both success and need for improvement in meeting students’ varied goals
Veteran education policy advocate brings extensive federal experience to shape policy solutions that strengthen pathways to opportunity
A new and improved Free Application for Federal Student Aid expected late this year should provide opportunities for more students and their families to access money to pay for college. Yet the transition to this new form presents unprecedented challenges for those who work to help students complete it.
To better understand the value community colleges provide to individuals and communities, we need to acknowledge the range of needs they serve.
According to new Strada Education Foundation research, community college attendees who complete an associate degree or successfully transfer to a four-year institution value their education at rates comparable to or higher than recent bachelor’s degree completers. However, researchers found first-generation students rated the value of their community college education about 20 percentage points lower than those who are not first-generation students.
Newly established teams will focus on collaboratively shaping policy at state, federal levels to create pathways to opportunity for more people
Eloy Ortiz Oakley, president and CEO of College Futures Foundation and former chancellor of the California Community Colleges, will join a Strada Education Foundation webinar Sept. 7, when he and other panelists will explore Strada’s latest report, “The Value of Community Colleges: Recent Students’ Motivations and Outcomes,” which captures several factors that motivated recent alumni to enroll in community college.
Major changes in the form, combined with an expected delay in its release, are combining to intensify the work of spreading the word about the updated FAFSA.
Initiative designed to support aspiring leaders at HBCUs through scholarships, work-based learning opportunities, expands to 50 schools
Veteran higher ed leader will provide collaborative leadership to help Strada strengthen the link between education and opportunity in America
A wide range of experiences prepare students for success beyond the completion of their college degree. The evidence for the value of interning on students’ future careers is strong.
The recognition, awarded to Strada plus all four supported nonprofit organizations that make up Strada Collaborative — CAEL, Education at Work, InsideTrack, and Roadtrip Nation — signals a continued prioritization of DEI efforts.
Longtime senior leader to assume role permanently after leading Strada’s financial operations through leadership, strategy transition as interim CFO
In an era of student enrollment declines, tight labor markets, rising college costs, and a growing lack of confidence in the value of a postsecondary education, community colleges and employers have ample reasons to partner together.
Partnerships between community colleges and employers have the opportunity to address local and regional economic needs through a range of tools, including supporting student success through resources and services, integrating work-based learning, and building career pathways.
Innovative leader brings an extensive track record of navigating through challenges to create effective education-to-employment data systems