Public Universities Collaborate to Close Achievement Gaps

The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities is organizing 130 public universities and systems to work together to increase college access and close the achievement gap.

  • By Sara Friedman
  • 11/26/18
silhouette of college graduates with arms raised

The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities is starting a major new initiative with 130 public universities and systems to make it easier for students to get a higher education degree.  The initiative, called Powered by Publics: Scaling Student Success, is a collaborative effort to improve college access, advance equity efforts and increase the number of college degrees by hundreds of thousands by 2025.

Participating institutions will be working in "clusters" of four to 12 institutions to develop and implement "innovative and effective practices to advance student success." The clusters will be broken down by focus areas such as data collection, financial aid and student financial literacy and career advising.

"We have to seize the moment and mobilize institutions to improve not just college access, but also equity in student outcomes and the number of students who earn degrees," said APLU President Peter McPherson. "That's what Powered by Publics is all about and why we're thrilled to work with our member institutions toward such an important national goal."

The Powered by Publics effort will be overseen by the APLU Center for Public University Transformation.  A national advisory council of higher education though leaders will also be created to provide a strategic vision and guidance for APLU's efforts.

More information about the participating institutions and clusters can be found here.

About the Author

Sara Friedman is a reporter/producer for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe covering education policy and a wide range of other public-sector IT topics.

Friedman is a graduate of Ithaca College, where she studied journalism, politics and international communications.

Friedman can be contacted at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @SaraEFriedman.

Click here for previous articles by Friedman.


Featured

  • central cloud platform connected to various AI icons—including a brain, robot, and network nodes

    Linux Foundation to Host Protocol for AI Agent Interoperability

    The Linux Foundation has announced it will host the Agent2Agent (A2A) protocol project, an open standard originally developed by Google to support secure communication and interoperability among AI agents.

  • cloud connected to a quantum processor with digital circuit lines and quantum symbols

    Columbia Engineering Researchers Develop Cloud-Style Virtualization for Quantum Computing

    Columbia Engineering's HyperQ system introduces cloud-style virtualization to quantum computing, allowing multiple users to run programs simultaneously on a single machine. Learn how it works, why it matters, and highlights from other recent quantum breakthroughs from leading institutions and vendors.

  • laptop on a clean desk with digital padlock icon on the screen

    Study: Data Privacy a Top Concern as Orgs Scale Up AI Agents

    As organizations race to integrate AI agents into their cloud operations and business workflows, they face a crucial reality: while enthusiasm is high, major adoption barriers remain, according to a new Cloudera report. Chief among them is the challenge of safeguarding sensitive data.

  • stylized illustration of a desktop, laptop, tablet, and smartphone all displaying an orange AI icon

    Report: AI Shifting from Cloud to PCs

    AI is shifting from the cloud to PCs, offering enhanced productivity, security, and ROI. Key players like Intel, Microsoft (Copilot+ PCs), and Google (Gemini Nano) are driving this on-device AI trend, shaping a crucial hybrid future for IT.