To fulfill the promise of student success, we must eliminate persistent equity gaps at our colleges and universities. Our communities and our country will thrive only if all people have a fair and equal chance to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed.
Today, that means helping many more Americans complete college degrees and credentials of value. Schools that join the project commit to working together and with EAB to help more underrepresented students of color and other historically underserved populations graduate from college.
Meet the Regions
-
Kean University
-
Fairleigh Dickinson University
- Delaware County Community College
- West Chester University
- East Carolina University
- East Tennessee State University
McNeese State University
- Carthage College
- Milwaukee Area Technical College
- University Wisconsin-Milwaukee
- University of Wisconsin-Parkside
- Community College of Denver
- Red Rocks Community College
- Blue Mountain Community College
- Eastern Oregon University
- Treasure Valley Community College
- Cincinnati State
- Miami University
- Gateway Technical College
- Northern Kentucky University
National Mentors
Build a comprehensive equity strategy
Through Moon Shot for Equity, we are able to deliver a cohesive equity plan that provides research-backed best practices, policies, and technology proven to reduce and eliminate equity gaps. For our students, that means reaching their attainment goals in less time, for less money, and achieving better career outcomes.
Local schools and community organizations collaborate to help more underserved students attend and graduate college
Two- and four-year institutions form a regional ecosystem to support students
EAB teams with national mentors to provide proven solutions and technology to support students at scale
Featured best practices
Change management
Coordinated student care
Transfer pathways
Remove institutional barriers to equitable student success
Schools have historically approached these issues from a deficit mindset. That is, developing interventions that focus on remediating or fixing the student. The Moon Shot focuses more on removing systemic barriers for students. EAB has identified 15 best practices to help institutions take a hard look at their campus culture and systems to build a more equity-focused approach.
Frequently asked questions
The Moon Shot for Equity is a public-private partnership focused on the elimination of equity gaps in higher education in the United States. EAB is partnering with national experts and community-based organizations to provide regional clusters of two- and four-year colleges and universities with research-backed best practices, policies, and technology.
Additionally, each region must commit to deploying the 15 best practices and policies proven both to substantially boost equity and to be mutually beneficial to their student populations. All colleges must agree to collect and share data, convene with the network quarterly, and adhere to the initiative and implementation timetable.
To close equity gaps, regions must do the following:
- Implement 15 research-backed best practices and policies proven to close equity gaps.
- Embed change management and implementation techniques in institutional transformation.
- Deploy technology to advance equity and reduce bias.
As noted in Lumina Foundation's report titled A Stronger Nation, "Eight of every 10 Americans now live in cities or suburbs. To reach the 60 percent attainment goal, we must focus on these regions….[M]etro areas are fertile ground for the kinds of local collaborations that boost attainment."
The formation of local collaborations with government, community-based organizations, and employers will help boost college attainment. These regional collaborations between schools are also critical in order to establish common academic pathways that allow students to move between two- and four-year institutions and earn a degree more quickly and efficiently. Streamlining credit transfers between institutions and accelerating time to degree are significant aspects of the equity challenge.
Absolutely, as a Vanguard institution we need your guidance to champion regional change. We seek student success leaders to evaluate and reform campus practices and policies to direct and advance equity. As a single institution leader, you recognize areas for internal improvement, know the pulse of your community, and the connections needed to provide student growth, success, and value. In collaboration with you, EAB will assess your campus’ readiness and guide you through different
A region will be defined by shared student entrance and transfer patterns across two- and four-year institutions. Institutions must work together to form a regional ecosystem, a requirement to participate in the Moon Shot for Equity.
Participating two- and four-year colleges and universities in all regions will be supported by EAB and by our Equity Mentors, Georgia State University and Houston GPS.
Regions will be selected based on their collective track record in the following areas:
- Improving student outcomes through innovation
- Advancing commitment toward continuous improvement
- Practicing transparency in regard to their institutional and regional efforts
- Willingness to share insights and learning with other colleges and universities
EAB's role and responsibilities include the provision of these benefits across Moon Shot for Equity regions:
- Leadership Institute: Change Management and Equity Skill-Building: EAB will facilitate a cohort-based Leadership Institute to develop equity-minded practitioners armed with exceptional change management skills to uphold the Moon Shot principles and drive and sustain change throughout the region.
- Best Practice Research: Regions will have access to evidence-based best practices and policies that already have been deployed at scale across institutions, while rapidly contributing their own groundbreaking discoveries.
- Student Success Management System Technology: EAB will deploy at scale a common student success technology. This will create a nearly seamless approach and infrastructure to collectively identify obstacles, collaboratively design interventions, rapidly compare results, and urgently deliver improvements.
- Implementation Expertise and Project Management: EAB will provide regions with a dedicated consulting team tasked with providing regions with a structured, measurable, and deadline-driven timeline to implement practices and policies. As new areas of opportunity are determined for each region, EAB will work with ecosystems to provide technical experts and support.
- Data Transparency, Metrics Alignment, and Assessment: EAB will facilitate the use of common metrics for measurement, comparison, and assessment of our progress and success for rapid adjustment and improvement.
- Convenings: EAB will organize and convene equity regions virtually across the year to efficiently share results, engage in thoughtful discussions, and facilitate structured work sessions.
Two- and four-year colleges and universities within each region agree to implement the following best practices to create an institutionally focused and equity-minded approach to student success:
- Change Management
- Equity-Mindedness
- Campus Climate Assessment
- Reduction of Registration Holds
- Retention Grants
- Aligned Mathematics
- Expanded Meta-Majors and Majors
- Remediation and Developmental Education Reform
- Academic Maps
- Streamlined Transfer Pathways
- Access to a Second Chance
- Proactive Advising Enabled by Technology
- Coordinated Care Network
- Confidence-Building and Belongingness
- College Access Partnership with Community-Based Organizations
To learn more about the 15 practices, click here. To read the Moon Shot for Equity Memorandum of Understanding, click here.
Moon Shot for Equity partnerships will be active for five years.
Fill out the form below, and a member of the Moon Shot for Equity team will reach out to you.
Is your region ready to erase equity gaps?
Please fill out the form to connect with a member of our Moon Shot team.
