Strada collaborates with students, policymakers, educators, and employers across the U.S. to strengthen the link between education and opportunity.
Learn More
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.
Read Time
Washington — The American Council on Education (ACE) and Strada Education Network announced today a groundbreaking, 2.5-year initiative to help colleges and universities align learning and workforce opportunities to improve student success.
Strada’s $1.5 million grant will allow ACE to research, develop, and pilot a Learner Success Lab that will provide opportunities for postsecondary institutions to strategize and implement effective policies and practices that help students meet the demands of today’s workforce. As part of this initiative to develop student-centered solutions, ACE will leverage Strada’s education consumer survey database of more than 340,000 Americans to understand individuals’ perceptions on the value, relevance, reputation, and quality of their education to career and life experiences.
“While access to higher education has grown significantly in the last 50 years, completion rates have not increased at a pace necessary to meet our nation’s workforce needs,” said ACE President Ted Mitchell. “The Learner Success Lab will allow our institutions, corporations, and other employers to work together to forge new strategies for student and worker success that will have a lasting positive impact on our nation and our economy and enable our graduates to thrive in the globalized world of the 21st century.”
The model for the Learner Success Lab will be ACE’s highly successful Internationalization Lab, which brings together campus leaders and faculty to advance campus-wide internationalization and global engagement. Once the Learner Success Lab is launched, teams of higher education administrators and faculty will participate in a 12-month strategic planning process with the goal of developing policy and practice strategies at their own institutions to integrate higher education learning and academic credentials with workforce-ready skills.
“We know the pathways to completion are diverse, and our goal at Strada is to help millions more people achieve completion with a purpose. Any effective effort to improve learner success must consider ways to reduce barriers to student mobility and recognize prior learning and transfer of credit,” said William D. Hansen, president and CEO of Strada Education Network. “We are eager to see how this initiative will address the challenges education consumers face as they navigate postsecondary education.”
As part of the initiative, ACE also will convene a National Task Force on the Transfer of Credit. Its members will undertake a comprehensive review of the research on credit for prior learning, competency-based education, and military training, coupled with an assessment of successful credit transfer practices and recommendations to improve the transfer and award of credit that benefit learners and institutions. The task force’s work is made possible by grants from Strada and the Charles Koch Foundation.
Currently, only about half of students enrolled at a four-year college graduate within six years and even fewer students at two-year institutions go on to graduate. According to most estimates, roughly 65 percent of jobs in the U.S. economy require some form of postsecondary education. Yet, fewer than half of Americans ages 25-64 hold a credential beyond high school.
ACE is a membership organization that mobilizes the higher education community to shape effective public policy and foster innovative, high-quality practice. As the major coordinating body for the nation’s colleges and universities, our strength lies in our diverse membership of more than 1,700 colleges and universities, related associations, and other organizations in America and abroad. ACE is the only major higher education association to represent all types of U.S. accredited, degree-granting institutions: two-year and four-year, public and private.
Strada Education Network is a national social impact organization dedicated to improving lives by forging clearer and more purposeful pathways between education and employment. The Network engages partners across education, nonprofits, business and government to focus relentlessly on students’ success throughout all phases of their working lives. Together, we address critical college to career challenges through strategic philanthropy, research and insights, and mission-aligned affiliates. Learn more at StradaEducation.org. The Charles Koch Foundation supports research, educational programs, and dialogue to advance an understanding of how people can best live together in peace and prosperity and challenge convention. The Charles Koch Foundation provides grants to support a wide range of inquiry including criminal justice and policing reform, free speech and open inquiry, foreign policy, economic opportunity, and innovation.
Contact: Audrey Hamilton (ACE) 202-939-9353 auhamilton@acenet.edu
Amy Dunham (Strada Education Network) 317-806-8193 amy.dunham@stradaeducation.org
To create a PDF of the webpage, choose in opened window 'Save as PDF' option in 'Destination' select or something like that and click to save or print button.
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
Innovative leader brings an extensive track record of navigating through challenges to create effective education-to-employment data systems
Seasoned postsecondary education policy leader to oversee nonprofit organization’s advocacy work with state and federal policymaker
Three-year grants awarded to four institutions will support expansion of programs designed to help learners succeed during and after completion of their degree or credential. These programs deploy a broad range of strategies from new technology solutions to embedded, industry-recognized credentials, which will be made available to thousands of new learners through these grants.
Veteran corporate leader brings diverse range of experience to guide Strada’s legal team and serve organization’s Board of Trustees
Two-year grants will support proven partnerships that connect learners to education and in-demand employment opportunities and strengthen regional economies.
At a time of growing societal uncertainty about the value of higher education and declining enrollment, the views of alumni turn out to be particularly insightful. This group can provide especially valuable feedback about how their education experiences have enriched their lives, which can help us ensure that today’s students maximize all the benefits that college offers.
National Workforce Development Leader to Head Social Impact Organization’s Strategy and Innovation Team
New Study from Strada Education Network Reveals a Silver Lining at a Challenging Time
Strada Education Network is pleased to celebrate the opening of the Jackie Robinson Museum in New York City.
Phase 2 allows Taskforce members to seek up to $1.5 million ($6.25 million total) to expand efforts to connect education to employment.
Disparities in securing paid internships persist for women, people of color, first-generation college students, and students with low incomes — even when taking into account their fields of study
Strada Education Network announced today the winners in the initial phase of a $10 million grant challenge aimed at helping higher education institutions identify and expand new solutions that will improve career and life opportunities for more students of color, first-generation students, those who struggle to afford education, and adult students and workers.
NSSE and Strada researchers identify gaps in social capital development in 2021 NSSE career preparation data
Recognized Economic and Workforce Development Leader to Join National Nonprofit in January 2022
Courses, faculty receive high marks, but valued education-career connections are less consistent, and females, first-generation, Black alumni are less likely to report successful outcomes
Grant competition seeks to connect learning with employment for first-generation students, those who struggle to afford education, and students of color.
$25 million grant from Strada Education Network taps the collective experience and insights of HBCU leaders to scale experiential learning and leadership development within the college experience .main-content__header-area .header-image .text-box { max-width: 100% !important; text-align: center; }
New organization will allow each constituent part to focus on mission delivery, gaining operating efficiencies by leveraging support services from Strada
Surveys and interviews with 2020, 2021 high school graduates who postponed their education plans due to COVID-19 also show advising, financial assistance, career relevance are important to bringing students back to campus.
Report also finds that more respondents rate shorter nondegree programs as worth the cost than longer ones
Disrupted high school graduates cited stress, anxiety, and uncertainty as having the greatest influence on their decision to delay further education — and they say guidance, affordability, and connections to career would help them re-engage.
Combination to Create a Leading Labor Market Analytics Company
Strada Education Network’s latest survey finds that 32 percent of adults whose education plans were disrupted by COVID-19 are no longer enrolled or planning to enroll, up from 10 percent last spring
Strada Education Network’s latest Public Viewpoint research finds that fewer than 4 in 10 Black alumni and less than half of Latino alumni feel that it was worth taking out their student loans—but strong career support boosts their assessment.
Bill Hansen to Step Down After Eight Years Leading Nonprofit Social Impact Organization
Strada Education Network’s latest Public Viewpoint research highlights widespread belief that when it comes to career, skills and experience should take precedence over formal credentials—and that Americans highly value employers who will support their education and career development.
University of Utah leader will drive Strada Education Network’s research, philanthropy, policy, and thought leadership on national stage.