Overview

The Opportunity

Community colleges play a transformative role in improving our economy and building vibrant communities where learners who have been disproportionately impacted by obstacles in credential attainment can thrive.

In the last decade, community college student enrollment has declined by roughly 2 million students. While the pandemic exacerbated access challenges, obstacles existed before 2020 and still stand as a threat to the social and economic mobility of community college learners. Increasing student enrollment and retention requires that postsecondary education be redesigned to meet the needs of students from different backgrounds and experiences. The disproportionate challenges facing diverse learners inside and outside of the classroom require a tailored approach that aligns community and college resources and support. 

Achieving the Dream’s long-standing support of community college transformation has spearheaded the redesign of institutions to meet the needs of all learners. However, as recent data suggests, higher education must do more to meet the needs of learners and ensure their success. Calls to action in the field have more intentionally highlighted the need for strategies and high-impact practices that can be implemented to support community college learners. Indeed, community colleges, in particular, must identify and eradicate policies and processes that exacerbate educational disparities. 

Achieving the Dream’s expertise in teaching and learning, holistic student supports, and institutional coaching support the work of community colleges in identifying the strategies required to expand access and opportunity for disproportionally impacted learners — that is, students who experience significantly lower educational outcomes due to institutional barriers. 

Initiative Overview

Through this grant opportunity, an Alliance for Community College Learner Success (Alliance) will be formed as a cohort-based, capacity-building institutional initiative focused on teaching and learning pedagogy, holistic student supports, and strategies for senior leaders who serve a high percentage of disproportionately impacted learners and whose leadership has demonstrated a commitment to learner success. The Alliance is designed for individual community colleges and systems in and out of the Achieving the Dream Network.

The Alliance serves as support to faculty and leaders as they implement institutional, system, and policy changes that will improve the outcomes for disproportionately impacted learners pursuing postsecondary degrees or credentials. Over two years, the Alliance cohort will engage in content modules, coaching, and peer engagement opportunities. 

Each participating college or system will accomplish the following:

• Through data analysis, coaching, and technical assistance, examine the current access, progress, and success of disproportionately impacted learners at their college or system
• Improve their capacity and ability to serve disproportionately impacted learners by providing tailored teaching and learning and holistic student supports necessary to ensure success
• Identify a data-informed plan that will advance action, access, and success of disproportionately impacted learners at their college or system 
• Build a change effort sustainability plan that is integrated into the college or system’s student success agenda
• Share what it has learned with the broader higher education community through ATD learning events and publications as well as partner events and collaborations so that peer colleges can benefit from the expertise

Applicant Commitments

Over the course of two years, colleges or systems in the cohort will develop data-informed plans to support student success, launch the rollout of their plan, and design sustainability efforts and actions. 

There is no charge for participation in the Alliance, though colleges may incur travel-related expenses. Each participating college will receive a $15,000 stipend from ATD to support their Alliance-related work, to be used at the discretion of the college team.

Colleges or systems that apply for the Alliance for Community College Learner Success cohort commit to do the following:

• Convene a cross-functional and cross-hierarchical team to lead the project
• Develop a data-informed strategy that directly impacts disproportionately impacted learners’ access and momentum
• Engage fully in all project activities with their assigned ATD coach
• Share project feedback with ATD throughout the grant period
• Attend in-person peer-learning sessions
• Share lessons learned with the ATD Network and our funder

Achieving the Dream Commitments 

ATD commits to support the five successful applicants in the following ways throughout the grant period:

• Distribute a total of $15,000 (to be allocated between Year 1 and Year 2 based on available grant funding) to each of the five successful college or system applicants upon execution of the grant contract.
• Provide an ATD coach to deliver tailored guidance to each college or system team.
• Conduct technical assistance workshops on teaching and learning and holistic student supports focused on disproportionately impacted learner success.
• Conduct two in-person site visits lasting up to two days each. (One site visit in Year 1 and one site visit in Year 2.)
• Provide monthly virtual coaching between site visits.

Timeline: 

Exact dates will be provided upon college acceptance.

Applicant Eligibility

Colleges or systems must have a high percentage of disproportionately impacted learners enrolled at the institution(s) at the time of application submission. 

Indicators of College or System Readiness

• The institution or system has diverse representation on its governing board
• The institution or system has diverse representation on its CEO’s cabinet
• A commitment to the success of disproportionately impacted learners is reflected in the institution’s or system’s strategic plan
• Faculty with diverse backgrounds are meaningfully represented in the institution’s or system’s full-time faculty
• Staff with diverse backgrounds are meaningfully represented at the institution or system
• The success of disproportionately impacted learners has been prioritized in professional learning at the institution or system
• The institution or system has demonstrated a commitment to disaggregating student success data to reveal patterns of educational disparities that impact disproportionately impacted learners
• There are recognized institutional entities to engage in critical dialogue and collective sensemaking about the success of disproportionately impacted learners at the institution (e.g., president’s task force, student success committee, accreditation team, academic senate)

Application Submission Guidelines 

Instructions for submitting application materials

The application has three parts:

1. The first part includes college or system demographic and eligibility.
2. The second part focuses on the college or system’s structure.
3. The third part requests supporting documents, including a letter from the college president or system chancellor.

*System applications must be completed by the chancellor/president’s office and include the names of the institutions being considered.

Please limit responses to each question to 250 words or fewer. 

Additional documents may be uploaded at the end of the application. Ensure each document is clearly labeled and specifies which question it addresses.

Before beginning your online application form, please access the Word version of the application provided here to assist you in crafting the strongest submission possible.

• ATD Alliance for Community College Learner Success Application (Word Version)

Applications should be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET/ 10:59 p.m. CT/ 8:59 PT on July 10, 2025.

Questions can be directed to:

Francesca I. Carpenter, Director of Equitable Programming and Inclusive Learning, Achieving the Dream alliance@achievingthedream.org