USA Funds Supporting Advising Effort
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis-based USA Funds has announced a three-year partnership with Complete College America to develop advising tools to help college students make more informed choices on majors and careers. USA Funds is providing a $1.5 million grant for the effort.
December 1, 2014
News Release
Indianapolis, Ind. — USA Funds and Complete College America today announced a three-year partnership to develop and deploy Purpose First, a new set of best practice advising tools that will combine labor market data, predictive analytics, and career advising to assist college students in making more fully informed and deliberate choices of majors and careers.
The initiative, funded by a $1.5 million grant from USA Funds, will enable students to pursue their college goals with a strong sense of purpose and increased motivation, enhanced confidence that a chosen program of study matches academic and personal strengths, and a clear understanding of future career opportunities.
“USA Funds is pleased to support Purpose First, an innovative approach to career advising of college students to help them make more informed decisions about the 'big choice' of which major and career to pursue,” said Carol D'Amico, USA Funds executive vice president, National Engagement and Philanthropy. “This initiative will help address one of the critical challenges facing higher education today – the fact that about half of all graduates end up unemployed or underemployed, or report they would have pursued a different major or higher education program if they had it to do all over again.”
As a major enhancement to Complete College America's Guided Pathways to Success (GPS) strategy, Purpose First will enable colleges to end current practices where students discover majors by wandering through a disorganized, smorgasbord curriculum – a process that often results in students taking excess credits and wasting valuable time and resources.
With Purpose First, students will choose majors – not just courses – through a redesigned process that puts them on the right path into and through a well-designed whole program of study. Students will be placed on highly structured degree maps containing sequences of guaranteed “critical path courses,” thereby enhancing and scaling institutional best practices proven to produce higher graduation and job placement rates.
“College students should not have to engage in random acts of enrollment as they chart their path through American higher education,”
said Complete College America President Stan Jones. “By putting purpose first, we ensure they won't have to. We give them a clear path to graduation day and provide them the tools necessary to get there.”
In the coming months, Complete College America will convene national experts in behavioral economics, predictive and workforce analytics, student advising and information technology to explore the design and development of Purpose First tools.
About USA Funds
USA Funds is a nonprofit corporation that supports Completion With a Purpose, building a more purposeful path for America's students to and through college and on to rewarding careers and successful lives. USA Funds pursues its nonprofit mission through philanthropic activities and partnerships, policy research, and programs and services that enhance preparation for, access to and success in higher education. Learn more at www.usafunds.org.
About Complete College America
Established in 2009, Complete College America is a national nonprofit with a single mission: to work with states to significantly increase the number of Americans with quality career certificates or college degrees and to close attainment gaps for traditionally underrepresented populations. For more information, visit our website.
Sources: USA Funds, Complete College America