CCBA Awarded Ascendium Education Group Grant to Explore Quality Indicators for Community College Bachelor’s Degree Programs

ORLANDO, Fla. (April 18, 2023) – The Community College Baccalaureate Association (CCBA) recently announced it was awarded a $50,000 grant from Ascendium Education Group.

“To date, there is no unified set of quality standards for community colleges seeking to confer workforce-focused baccalaureate degrees,” explains CCBA President Dr. Angela Kersenbrock. “Filling this void is critical due to the rapid expansion of community college baccalaureate (CCB) programs in the United States. Furthermore, CCB-conferring colleges want to demonstrate how these new pathways produce more equitable baccalaureate attainment outcomes for all student groups.”

With the support of Ascendium, and guided by a national advisory task force, the CCBA will:

1. Hold a series of conversations with key individuals and stakeholders to gather insight regarding the development, implementation and design elements of high-quality CCB programs.
2. Complete a literature review of existing definitions of program quality that focus on relevant frameworks centered on equitable student access and workforce outcomes.
3. Develop a thought paper that will synthesize this information along with  CCBA’s existing detailed research about the benefits of CCBs. The thought paper will identify the broad design elements and practices of successful CCB programs.

ABOUT CCBA
Since 1999, the Community College Baccalaureate Association (CCBA) has been the nation’s only organization dedicated to promoting baccalaureate degrees on community college campuses as a means of closing racial, ethnic, and economic gaps by providing its members access to research data and strategic guidance as they develop and implement their baccalaureate degree programs.

ABOUT ASCENDIUM
Ascendium Education Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to helping people reach the education and career goals that matter to them. Ascendium invests in initiatives designed to increase the number of students from low-income backgrounds who complete postsecondary degrees, certificates and workforce training programs, with an emphasis on first-generation students, incarcerated adults, rural community members, students of color and veterans. Ascendium’s work identifies, validates and expands best practices to promote large-scale change at the institutional, system and state levels, with the intention of elevating opportunity for all. For more information, visit https://www.ascendiumphilanthropy.org.