The Center for Urban Education (CUE) and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) have undertaken a new partnership aimed at helping states anchor college completion goals to on-the-ground practices at institutions. The two-year project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and The Ford Foundation, will focus on colleges in Colorado, specifically the Denver metropolitan area. It will translate ambitious state college completion goals into sustained changes in practice with a focus on equitable outcomes.
This project expands on CUE’s Equity Scorecard model, which is built on a theory of change that emphasizes facilitated data inquiry and integration of equity into goal-setting and accountability. This takes the next step in focusing on the alignment between state, system, and campus-level priorities and efforts. CUE’s data, benchmarking, and process improvement tools for organizational learning and change will be adapted to address the unique opportunities and challenges in the Denver region. The project also expands the partnership between CUE and WICHE, a nationally recognized higher education policy organization whose mission is to expand educational access and excellence for all residents of the west.
