A new alliance to support access to higher education for young people from diverse communities in the United States was recently announced.

The Morgan Stanley Institute for Inclusion (IFI), through its Equity in Education and Career Consortium, an institution that promotes supporting high school and college students to achieve better career and financial outcomes, has partnered with College Possible and the City University of New York's Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (CUNY ASAP) to launch a multi-year program that will offer support for the inclusion of underserved populations in community education institutions.

The $5.5 million earmarked for this program, which seeks to address systemic inequalities in education and career outcomes for low- and moderate-income young adults, is part of a $20 million commitment announced last December by the Foundation.

“We are proud to support the growth and reach of College Possible and CUNY ASAP, two proven programs that drive greater access to education and social mobility among community college students,” said Susan Reid, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Morgan Stanley, and Director of the Morgan Stanley Institute for Inclusion. 

Reid also pointed out:

This investment helps address social inequities and creates greater pathways for long-term career and financial success.

Multi-Year Investment Approach

• Support will be especially aimed at organizations that focus on removing barriers to community college students completing a degree through comprehensive and integrated services.
• Seeks to expand CUNY ASAP's preeminent degree-earning model in community college systems, as well as strengthen career training programs for its 25,000 students.
• Apply College Possible's "high tech - high touch" program to reach 6,000 students over time.

Program Goals

1. Awareness: Exposing students to a scenario in which careers and opportunities, with little publicity in their communities, are made visible.
2. Access: Through a strategy that includes training, tutoring and coaching, the aim is to enhance students' skills and expand their knowledge networks.
3. Advancement: Create a strong community that supports students throughout their educational and career journeys.

“For the past 15 years, CUNY ASAP has grown into a nationally recognized model for promoting student success and excellence for community college students. Now with Morgan Stanley’s generous support, ASAP can enhance its career development programming, as well as further promote its national replication work so other university systems can launch their own ASAP-like programs to help their students achieve their educational dreams,” said CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez.

For his part, Craig Robinson, CEO of College Possible, an entity that recognizes the value that a university degree provides in the step towards economic mobility and access to professional growth opportunities, stresses that this alliance is “an important investment as we thoughtfully evolve our evidence-based curriculum to support students on the community college and associate degree pathway.”

Partners with proven track records and a high standard of excellence aimed at supporting low- to moderate-income students achieve better educational and career outcomes, were also introduced during the launch of this program.

These are the sponsoring firms:

• A Better Chance (ABC)
• America Needs You (ANY)
• brave
• Hispanic Federation
• iMentor
• SEO