Story
The Frontier Set included high-performing, high-potential institutions with a history of working collaboratively to create equitable student success for Black, Latino, and Indigenous students, first-generation students, and those from low-income backgrounds. Once these institutions came together, they continued their equity-focused work and piloted new strategies. Leaders shared their insights to drive real change and reflect on what transformation is and how it happens.
A Letter From the Foundation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation acknowledges and appreciates each and every Frontier Set participant for their contribution to the field of higher education, and shares its plan for the future.
Read MoreA Student-Centered Future
Hear students and professionals from participating institutions reflect on the power and imperative of transformation.
Partners
6
Intermediary Organizations
29
Universities & Colleges
2
State Systems
Intermediaries identified groups of like institutions to make up the Frontier Set. Institutions were chosen because of their history of making strides in improving outcomes for their students, as well as for their ability to work together. The network provided a structure for sites to collaborate and share, supported by a group of organizations that facilitated and studied their ongoing transformation efforts and captured insights and lessons learned. This level of collaboration differentiated the Frontier Set in a historically competitive field.
Support Partners
Supported by
Intermediaries & Institutions
An at-a-glance view of Frontier Set network institutions, sorted by intermediary organization.
American Association of State Colleges and Universities
AASCU is the collective voice of 350 public colleges, universities, and systems that hold students and community at the heart of their mission. The association works to expand student access, success, and opportunity; to promote world-class teaching and experiential learning tied to career advancement; and to support applied research and service that advances economic development and quality of life in communities across the country.
Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Six HBCUs were selected for the Frontier Set based on their outstanding student-centered approaches to student success. HBCUs worked with the unaffiliated HBCU Frontier Set Intermediary Team, which developed a customized system supporting the institutions in advancing student success and grant management.
University Innovation Alliance
The University Innovation Alliance is a multi-campus laboratory for student success innovation that helps university leaders, philanthropists, and policymakers accelerate the implementation of scalable solutions to increase the number and diversity of college graduates.
Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities
APLU is a research, policy, and advocacy organization that works with 250 public research universities, land-grant institutions, state university systems, and affiliated organizations, all committed to driving equitable student success for historically underserved students.
The Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program aims to advance higher education practices and leadership that significantly improve student learning, completion, and employment after college by providing college leaders with research, actionable tools, and professional development to shift practices and advance the capacity of their colleges to deliver excellent and equitable student outcomes.
State Higher Education Executive Officers Association
SHEEO serves the chief executives of statewide governing, policy, and coordinating boards of postsecondary education and their staffs. They promote an environment that values higher education and its role in ensuring the equitable education of all Americans, regardless of race/ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic factors.
