Friday, March 4, 2016
Ford Foundation Supports Universities' Efforts to Boost Student Grad Rates by 20%
An alliance made up of 11 major universities across the United States has knocked its goal of graduating more students — including more low-income students — out of the park. The members of the University Innovation Alliance (UIA) reported that they're on track to expand their combined annual degree awards by almost 20 percent, creating 94,000 more graduates over the next 10 years than they would have prior to their involvement in the group. UIA recently received $3.85 million in new funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation and USA Funds to support its work.
The alliance, formed in 2014, is a collaboration made up of top-tier research institutions, including Iowa State, Georgia State, Michigan State, Arizona State and the University of California, Riverside. Each has committed to working with the others on four objectives: getting more students across the graduation finish line, graduating more students across the socioeconomic spectrum, sharing data and innovating together. . .