Nellie Mae Education Foundation

THE BIG GOAL: PREPARING ALL NEW ENGLAND STUDENTS FOR LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL

When every student is achieving at high levels, the rising tide will lift all of us toward a more equitable and prosperous future.

Today across New England, only 50% of high school students are graduating with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed after high school. Additionally, only 32% of low-income students are graduating college and career ready. Furthermore, while there is progress being made, the gaps between low-income students and non-low income students and between Hispanic and non-Hispanic students continue to grow.

Given the urgency of the need, our work is organized around a simple by visionary goal moving forward: universal post-secondary attainment supported by universal college and career readiness for all New England public school graduates. The Foundation is investing $200 million over the next five years as a first bold step towards this critical goal.

As a part of this goal, the Foundation has set a target of ensuring that 80% of New England students are college and career ready by 2030. Our grantmaking is organized into four initiatives that set out to advance this readiness target. Ensuring that 80% of New England students are college and career ready by 2030 is a challenging goal, and too large for any one group to tackle on its own. We all have a stake in ensuring that more students graduate high school prepared for what’s next.

• We’re working to advance student-centered approaches to learning across New England to ensure that all students are prepared for life after high school. You can learn more by reading our Theory of Change below - Leading the Way Toward a More Prosperous, Equitable New England.