Third Sector mobilizes cross-sector collaborators to transform our government's ability to provide education, training, support, and credentials to put people on a path toward economic mobility.
Our Approach to Post-Secondary Opportunity
Most of us believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to build the life of our dreams — no matter what we look like, where we are from, or what our circumstances are. But for too many of us, our dreams seem out of reach because our nation is not providing the educational, training/upskilling, and credentialling opportunities that we need to meet the demands of a 21st-century economy.
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We built our post-secondary system in a different era and designed it around traditional higher education at colleges and universities. In addition, we created programs, tools, and resources to support a wide range of distinct needs of various groups of people and find now that we have created more complexity and confusion than we intended -- all of which exacerbates inequities that often trap people with fewer resources into lower-paying jobs, careers, and industries, and limits their freedom and choice to pursue the opportunities will put them on a path to economic mobility.
Ultimately, we believe in a future where our post-secondary system is expansive enough to encompass a range of possibilities for learners, from traditional higher education to credentialing programs to apprenticeships and training/upskilling opportunities. By unifying, coordinating, and leveraging the efforts of higher education, community stakeholders, government, and employers toward one more easily navigable and well-supported system, we can more effectively and equitably support people to get the jobs and careers that will sustain them and their families.
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Post-Secondary Opportunity Focus Areas
We undertake work in post-secondary opportunity in the following ways
Featured Projects
| Project Name | Scope | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supporting Colorado to Implement New Program Providing Wraparound Support to Adult Learners | State | CO | Active |
| As an outgrowth of its work with four states during the first PASS cohort, Third Sector is continuing to support the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI) by implementing the Postsecondary Grant Redesign, which revamps its financial and wraparound support grants into one joint program aimed at ensuring all students are equipped to succeed in their post-secondary education. Setting up a joint program was a key recommendation coming out of the original PASS cohort work. | |||
| Supporting Cross-Sector Partnerships to Design Innovative Job Training and Education Programs (LiLAs) | State | IN, MI, TN | Active |
| Third Sector is partnering with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to support cross-sector partnerships in Indiana, Michigan, and Tennessee in designing and developing pilot Lifelong Learning Account (LiLA) implementation plans. These pilot programs will provide working people in their states with access to job training and ongoing educational opportunities to grow or build new careers. | |||
| Supporting States to Direct Public Dollars Toward Evidence-Based Support Services that Address Barriers to Postsecondary Education | Nation | IN, MS | Active |
| Since 2019, Third Sector has supported three cohorts of the Partnerships to Achieve Student Success (PASS), a group of state systems of higher education that aims to improve student outcomes to and through postsecondary education. The current PASS 3 cohort focuses on how states and intermediary non-profit and community-based organizations can develop cross-sector partnerships to build coordinated state-level strategy-building pathways to engage adult learners and connect them to better jobs. | |||
All Post-Secondary Projects
| Project Name | Scope | Location | Status | |
| Supporting Colorado to Implement New Program Providing Wraparound Support to Adult Learners | State | CO | Active | |
Description:
As an outgrowth of its work with four states during the first PASS cohort, Third Sector is continuing to support the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI) by implementing the Postsecondary Grant Redesign, which revamps its financial and wraparound support grants into one joint program aimed at ensuring all students are equipped to succeed in their post-secondary education. Setting up a joint program was a key recommendation coming out of the original PASS cohort work.
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| Supporting Cross-Sector Partnerships to Design Innovative Job Training and Education Programs (LiLAs) | State | IN, MI, TN | Active | |
Description:
Third Sector is partnering with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to support cross-sector partnerships in Indiana, Michigan, and Tennessee in designing and developing pilot Lifelong Learning Account (LiLA) implementation plans. These pilot programs will provide working people in their states with access to job training and ongoing educational opportunities to grow or build new careers.
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| Cuyahoga County National Guard Scholars PFS | County | OH | Closed | |
Description:
Third Sector worked with the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) and Cuyahoga County's Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to improve enrollment, persistence, and completion outcomes for Ohio National Guard Scholarship Program (ONGSP) recipients. Cuyahoga's DHHS, the first county in the nation to launch a PFS project in 2015, led program and contract design efforts with Third Sector and InsideTrack, a leading national organization that supports learners seeking higher education. Together they tailored a coaching and skill-building program for the National Guard that strives to eliminate racial disparities between White students and students of color.
The county launched the PFS contract in December 2022.
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| Supporting States to Direct Public Dollars Toward Evidence-Based Support Services that Address Barriers to Postsecondary Education | Nation | IN, MS | Active | |
Description:
Since 2019, Third Sector has supported three cohorts of the Partnerships to Achieve Student Success (PASS), a group of state systems of higher education that aims to improve student outcomes to and through postsecondary education. The current PASS 3 cohort focuses on how states and intermediary non-profit and community-based organizations can develop cross-sector partnerships to build coordinated state-level strategy-building pathways to engage adult learners and connect them to better jobs.
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| Youth & Young Adult Post-Secondary Success | Nation | National | Closed | |
Description:Third Sector and The Annie E. Casey Foundation worked with states in the South and Southwest, among other communities, to address post-secondary education and workforce barriers for youth and young adults. We worked with committees comprised of state government agencies, workforce boards, and community colleges to develop new flexible and sustainable public funding plans for services that result in educational credential attainment, job placement, and/or wage progression for youth and young adults. Third Sector's work integrated state data and various funding sources to empower state committees and meet community needs while addressing racial inequities and persistent barriers to postsecondary education and workforce services.
Engaged states included: Arkansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia. The engagement is supported by The Casey Foundation's Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) and Research Evaluation Evidence and Design (REED).
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| UAspire Pay for Success Project | Nation | National | Closed | |
Description:
Third Sector completed a PFS feasibility assessment designed to evaluate the appropriateness of PFS for higher education to help heighten the focus on and attainment of these outcomes. With generous support from the Kresge Foundation, we worked with uAspire, a national provider of college affordability and financial aid counseling serving primarily low-income and first-generation students, to develop a preliminary assessment of PFS in higher education. uAspire’s interest in PFS, as with many service providers, stemmed from a desire to find organizations who might be willing to pay for the delivery of their high-quality, evidence-based programming.
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| SIF Workforce: Denver | City | CO | Closed | |
Description:
Third Sector partnered with the Denver Office of Economic Development to assess pathways to leverage evaluation and outcomes-driven contracting strategies to increase educational and employment outcomes for pregnant and parenting out of school youth. The engagement detailed challenges and actionable next steps for OED to leverage existing data systems to track and reward longer-term education and employment outcomes for these individuals and to blend federal funds with local public funding source.
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| Lumina / Goodwill Excel Center Adult Charter School Feasibility | State | IN | Closed | |
Description:
The Goodwill Excel Centers (TEC) are a network of tuition-free adult charter schools that gives adult learners the opportunity to earn a high school diploma. TEC's program centers on providing flexibility for students, removing barriers, and supporting student pathways to postsecondary education and the workforce. The program offers child care, life coaches, career certifications and college credits in order to help students navigate through the issues in their life and prepare them for successful careers or continued education. Since its inception in 2010, TEC has expanded from one school in Indiana to 18 across five states. Third Sector worked with the TEC to assess the feasibility of leveraging PFS and outcomes-oriented contracting strategies to help TEC effectively and sustainably scale its impact and accelerate its expansion goals into multiple communities.
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| Year Up | Nation | National | Closed | |
Description:
Year Up received a developmental technical assistance award from Third Sector to explore the PFS feasibility of the Professional Training Corps (PTC) Model for workforce development. The PTC Model was an intensive one-year program for young adults, aged 18 to 24, who have a high school diploma or GED. PTC participants spent six months learning technical and professional skills in the classroom and then applied those skills during six-month internships at one of Year Up’s 250 employer partners. Year Up presented an opportunity for a provider to scale nationally through PFS.
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Get in touch
Joy Coates, EdD
Managing Director, Post-Secondary Opportunity
Miami, FL | jcoates@thirdsectorcap.org