Creating New Pathways to Postsecondary: Evaluation of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Postsecondary Success (PSS) Initiative


Description : In 2008, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in partnership with the Nellie Mae Foundation, funded the Postsecondary Success Initiative (PSS), an ambitious multi‐site effort to develop new pathways to and through postsecondary education for what have come to be known as “Opportunity Youth” – low‐income youth who had dropped out of the traditional education process without a high school diploma or who faced significant barriers to further education and success in the labor market.1 Nationally, an estimated 6.7 million youth aged 16‐24 are in this group. Of those, it is estimated that 1% will have completed a postsecondary degree by age 28.2 The PSS initiative provided grants to 15 local community‐based organizations (CBOs) to develop partnerships with area community colleges that would enable formerly disconnected youth to acquire a high school diploma or GED or needed academic skills, make the transition into postsecondary education or training, and persist through to graduation.

Publish Date : 2013

Author/Source : Brandeis University

Type : Research/Report