The Ford Foundation’s Bridges to Opportunity Initiative, which began in 2002, is in its final year. The goal of the Initiative is to bring about changes in state policy and community college governance and practice that promote educational opportunities for low-income adults. The Ford Foundation supports teams in Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Ohio, and Washington in pursuing this goal, following a model of stakeholder engagement and strategic communications — building support for policy change from a broad-based constituency — and the use of data, specifically student outcomes tracking data, to identify problems, inform solutions, and then measure progress. Mission integration is another aspect of the model — bringing together the various functions of community colleges, such as remediation, student services, and occupational and academic education, to make them more amenable to the needs of low-income adults.

CCRC has been assisting Ford since 2003 in evaluating the activities and impacts of the Initiative in the six states. In this final year, CCRC is focusing on policies and legislation enacted as a result of Bridges to Opportunity as a means to examine the sustainability of the Initiative’s achievements. Changes that have been institutionalized through reforms in educational governance and state legislation are the ones most likely to be sustained after Ford Foundation funding ceases.

For example, in Washington State, Bridges to Opportunity clearly had an impact in shaping the recent policy agenda of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. It also helped in gaining legislative funding for a series of programmatic initiatives that are designed to promote advancement for low-income adults through mission integration along the pathway from basic skills courses to baccalaureate programs. Efforts in Ohio and New Mexico have led to legislation that is likely to promote the advancement of low-income adults as well.

In collaboration with Initiative partners, CCRC has developed a guide for promoting state policies that serve to increase the number of low-income adults with postsecondary credentials in high-demand career fields. The Guide is aimed at state agencies concerned with community colleges and higher education, human services, workforce development, and economic development; governors and legislators and their staffs; business and labor groups; and college leaders and trustees. To request a copy of the Guide, please visit: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/783/t/8446/signUp.jsp?key=3833