Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Gates Foundation Launches Higher Ed Podcast "To A Degree"

  • 04/03/17

What: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the launch of a new podcast series dedicated to higher education. By 2025, two-thirds of jobs will require education beyond high school — yet half of students who start college don't graduate, and a high-income student is five times as likely to have a degree by age 24 than a low-income student.

The profile of college students is also changing. The majority of students are no longer 18- to 21-year-olds who enroll full-time and live on campus. Rather, the majority of students work while going to college, 40 percent are 25 or older, one-third are first generation college goers, and many are low-income students and students of color.

To A Degree aims to show how higher education must evolve to better support today's college students. The goal of the foundation's Postsecondary Success team is to help more students — especially low-income and first-generation students — graduate at higher rates, with high-quality degrees or certificates at an affordable price.

Who:
Dan Greenstein, director of Postsecondary Success, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Bridget Burns, executive director, University Innovation Alliance
Deborah Santiago, chief operating officer and vice president for policy, Excelencia in Education
Moderator: Casey Green, founding director, The Campus Computing Project

Where:  The podcast is available to stream or download at www.ToADegree.com.

When:  The podcast launched on Thursday, March 30.

Contact:  For more information, please contact Travis Reindl at [email protected] or 202/257-5307.

Featured

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.

  • Embry-Riddle Completes Construction on Research, Lab Facility

    Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU) in Daytona Beach, Fla., recently announced the end of construction on a new research and lab facility on campus. The Center for Aerospace Engineering II (CAT II) will support aerospace research and technology development and broke ground last summer.

  • 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.

  • Minnesota District Opens New PreK–12 School

    Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop Schools in Gibbon, Minn., recently announced that construction is complete on a new, $68.9-million school for students in grades PreK–12, according to a news release.