Dear ECMC Foundation Community,

The start of a new school year is a special moment. For learners new to postsecondary education, it is a time of extraordinary promise and anticipation. For returning students, it is an opportunity to advance themselves academically toward postsecondary degrees and credentials that have the power to change their lives—and that of their families—for years to come.

Yet last year’s postsecondary education climate prompts me to ask what kind of campuses students will return to this fall. Last academic year was a fractious one for many colleges and universities. It included a series of Congressional hearings into student safety and campus unrest, continued with the introduction of legislation in several states to restrict or ban DEI activities, and ended with sometimes violent protests on many campuses over the war in the Middle East.

As I shared with academic and policy leaders during the SHEEO Higher Education Policy Conference this month, the challenges facing our colleges and universities have the power to draw our attention away from other pressing issues, such as eliminating equity gaps in college completion for learners from underserved communities. These gaps have persisted for decades and affect the majority of students in higher education. Without minimizing the importance of the higher education issues that dominate social media, we cannot forget our nation’s commitment to over 15 million undergraduate students.

Most adults in the U.S. never earn a postsecondary degree. And many who start college never finish. The National Student Clearinghouse reports that the average six-year graduation rate of an undergraduate is 62 percent. Moreover, this percentage is lower for many students from underserved communities. For example, the graduation rate is about 43 percent for Black students and about 50 percent for Hispanic students. The Pell Institute reports that in 2019, only 17 percent of low-income students enrolled in a four-year college, compared to 40 percent of high-income students. And tragically, too many learners started college but never finished. It is reported that there are 40 million individuals who have earned college credit but possess no credential. Imagine it, an adult population greater than the entire state of California that has enrolled in college somewhere across the country but did not earn a credential.

For ECMC Foundation, helping postsecondary institutions graduate more students with valuable credentials is paramount. Our North Star goal—to eliminate equity gaps in college completion by 2040 so that underserved learners have greater opportunity for social and economic mobility—drives our grantmaking and investments.

Our North Star goal also embraces the life learners will lead after college. At ECMC Foundation, we understand that the attainment of a postsecondary credential or degree has the potential to propel students toward goals they hold most dear, such as getting a good job, supporting a family, and contributing positively to their communities. Yet research reveals that while a bachelor’s degree is still an important path to economic mobility, many students from underserved communities do not see positive outcomes after college. In fact, only about 3 in 10 students land a strong job or attend graduate school.

Underserved learners need proven strategies to help them secure fulfilling outcomes after college. Our Learning and Evaluation team recently released a case study,  A Model to Help Students Secure Strong First Jobs, which highlights the critical work of one of our grantee organizations, Braven. By working in partnership with colleges and universities, Braven developed a series of strategies to prepare today’s postsecondary learners for successful careers immediately out of college. Braven’s work is one of many examples of how our strategic grantmaking and program related investments lead to improving postsecondary outcomes for learners. Since 2021, the Foundation has made grants to a variety of organizations designed to help underserved learners maximize the potential of the postsecondary degrees and credentials they have earned.

I am honored to lead a Foundation where our grantees and investees are committed to learners throughout the U.S. by emphasizing the importance of completing a postsecondary credential. As we begin the 2024-25 academic year, I invite all of us to share an urgency and determination for improved student outcomes—let us together help build postsecondary institutions and systems that exceed the hopes and aspirations of the students we serve. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Jacob Fraire
President
ECMC Foundation