Media Contact: media@completecollege.org

National higher education advocacy organization will partner with states, systems and colleges to eliminate barriers to college completion

INDIANAPOLIS (September 20, 2022)  — Complete College America (CCA), a national non-profit organization on a mission to raise postsecondary attainment in the United States, today announced that it has been selected to participate in the next phase of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Intermediaries for Scale (IfS) Project and its $100 million commitment to equitable student outcomes. Over the course of the next five years, the organization will unite with six other national nonprofits to build a network of 300 institutions across the country working to improve student outcomes—especially for historically excluded students.

“College costs are rising, enrollment is declining, public trust in education is dwindling, and the gains in college access, equity, and completion we fought so hard to achieve are at risk. We cannot allow these risks to take hold for the long-term,” said Dr. Yolanda Watson Spiva, president of Complete College America. “The work of the Intermediaries for Scale is about helping institutions build their capacity while scaling, implementing and sustaining evidence-based practices. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to improve student outcomes while reversing the negative trend lines in higher education from the past several years.”

Complete College America will utilize funding from the national grant program to build a network of 80 institutions who will receive funding, support and direct technical assistance to help campus teams design plans that meet their specific needs. The organization will launch a formal RFP process at its Annual Convening, in Atlanta, Ga., October 24-25, 2022. Members of the Complete College America Alliance—which includes senior leadership from states, systems, institutional consortia and partner organizations—will be eligible to apply and in turn will select the participating institutions.

Originally launched in January 2020, the Intermediaries for Scale initiative is designed to help build the capacity of colleges and universities across the country to implement proven strategies for improving student success at scale. Drawn from an initial national cohort of twelve intermediaries and a competitive national selection process, Complete College America is among six selected entities that will now work over a 5-year period to increase student success through institutional transformation. The members of the IfS Cohort include UNCF, American Association of State Colleges & Universities (AASCU), American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC), Excelencia in Education,and Growing Inland Achievement (GIA).

Research, evaluation, and the identification of best practices is also at the core of Complete College America’s work. Institutions selected as grantees by Complete College America will form a national community of practice that will facilitate the sharing of data, insights and resources across peer institutions. Participating institutions will also commit to participating in the Postsecondary Data Partnership, which is working to scale the capacity of institutions to collect, manage, and analyze data to improve student outcomes.

Colleges interested in learning more about the Intermediaries for Scale project can visit the Complete College America website or sign up to attend the Complete College America Annual Convening (October 24-25). For more information, please contact Melanie Harris at mharris@completecollege.org.

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About Complete College America: Complete College America (CCA) builds movements for scaled change and transforms institutions through data-driven policies, student-centered perspectives, and equity-driven practices. Since its founding in 2009, CCA connects a national network of forward-thinking state and higher education leaders and introduces bold initiatives to help states and institutions confront inequities, close institutional performance gaps, and increase college completion rates, especially for marginalized and historically excluded students. For more information, visit http://www.completecollege.org.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the board of trustees.