Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

ACE, Lumina Foundation to Establish Alliance for Global Innovation in Tertiary Education

  • 07/10/17

WASHINGTON DC – The American Council on Education (ACE) is collaborating with Lumina Foundation to create a global learning community for the exchange of innovative practices shown to increase postsecondary degree attainment. 

Coordinated by ACE’s Center for Internationalization and Global Engagement (CIGE), a $551,200 grant from Lumina will support the formation of the Alliance for Global Innovation in Tertiary Education, a network of senior practitioners, thought leaders, policymakers and private sector employers across eight countries. Alliance members will meet in Washington, DC, in early 2018, and again outside the United States in 2019.

During this two-year initiative, the Alliance will identify flexible, student-centered approaches that enable diverse student populations to navigate the postsecondary system throughout their lifetimes to obtain knowledge, skills and credentials. Achieving more equitable outcomes for a changing student demographic is a central goal of the project, which will explore innovative modes of delivery, credentialing, credit recognition and degree pathways among the participating countries.

While national postsecondary systems are unique, the Alliance will test the hypothesis that strategies for achieving success for underserved students are transferrable across national borders.

Brad Farnsworth, ACE’s vice president for internationalization and global engagement, notes: “The challenge of increasing postsecondary attainment rates, and of reducing attainment gaps based on race, ethnicity or other factors, is not limited to the United States. The Alliance will identify innovations that have worked in other countries and explore how they might be adapted to improve outcomes for students in the American system.”

In addition to its organizational role, CIGE will produce a series of thought leadership papers, collect outcomes data from participating countries and develop a set of case studies with analysis and recommendations. Project outcomes will be shared widely among the U.S. higher education community.

ACE intends to sustain and possibly expand the Alliance to include other countries following the two-year project cycle.

Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. Lumina envisions a system that is easy to navigate, delivers fair results and meets the nation’s need for talent through a broad range of credentials. The Foundation’s goal is to prepare people for informed citizenship and for success in a global economy.

For more information, contact CIGE at [email protected].

Featured

  • College of the Desert Hits Construction Milestone on New Campus

    College of the Desert recently announced that the construction of its new Palm Springs Campus in Palm Springs, Calif., recently reached a major construction milestone, according to a news release. The college is partnering with general contractor C.W. Driver Companies, which recently “topped out” the facility by placing the final beam in its structure.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.

  • UT System Approves First Funds for New Campus

    The University of Texas System Board of Regents recently approved funds to build the first facility of a new campus in far west Fort Worth, Texas, according to university news. UTA West will serve as a branch of the University of Texas at Arlington and is scheduled to open in fall 2028.

  • Armstrong World Industries Acquires Parallel Architectural Products

    Armstrong World Industries, provider of interior and exterior architectural applications, recently announced that it has acquired the Colorado-based Parallel Architectural Products, according to a news release.