American Student Assistance Awards More Than $17 Million in Grants to Nonprofits Helping Middle and High Schoolers Achieve Postsecondary Education and Career Success
BOSTON, March 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — American Student Assistance® (ASA), a national nonprofit changing the way kids learn about careers and prepare for their futures, today announced that the organization has awarded $17.7 million to 30 mission-aligned, youth-serving nonprofits serving at least 14 states. The grants will significantly scale access to opportunities to improve career readiness outcomes for middle and high schoolers, specifically in the areas of work-based learning, social capital, education and career pathways, and career exploration.
“At ASA, over the past five years, our philanthropic grantmaking efforts in the youth career readiness arena have been critical in gaining valuable insight on what works best for young people, fueling innovation, expanding opportunity, elevating voices, and informing needed policy change. We congratulate our newest cohort of grantees for the hard-earned outcomes they’ve achieved, and we look forward to continuing our work with mission-aligned organizations looking to move the career-connected learning field forward to drive policy and systems change,” said Julie Lammers, Executive Vice President, American Student Assistance (ASA).
Industries covered by new grantees include advanced manufacturing, fisheries, healthcare, and social impact. Existing grantees represent additional industries like animation design, arts, construction, education, entrepreneurship, gaming, green jobs, and STEM. Grantees include the following:
CAPS Network has been awarded a $1.43 million grant over three years. This funding will support the development and expansion of the CAPS Middle School initiative in an effort to create profession-based learning experiences for younger learners.
Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning (CASEL) has been awarded $1 million over three years. The funding will be used for thought leadership and advocacy efforts to map indicators to future and career readiness skills, a continuation of their Portraits of a Graduate initiative.
Colorado Succeeds has been awarded $400,000 over two years. The funding will be used to support advocacy efforts to change systems in Colorado, by investing in data systems, communications, and advocacy tools for business coalitions and campaigns to destigmatize nondegree pathways.
The Education Trust has been awarded a $1.5 million grant over three years. The funding will be used to support the expansion of the Education Trust’s Middle School Career Connected Learning Initiative that will advocate for policies and practices for high-quality career exploration and participation in postsecondary pathways. “With generous support from American Student Assistance, EdTrust is ensuring that all students—especially Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds—have access to high-quality career exploration opportunities in middle school, setting them up for long-term success in education and the workforce. By advocating for equitable policies and practices, we are working to ensure every student has the resources and support they need to succeed,” said Kristen Hengtgen, Lead II, College and Career Readiness, Education Trust.
Empower Schools has been awarded a $300,000 grant over three years. The grant will create college and career pathways for students in middle and high school in Indiana, as well as advance the Rural Collaborative where rural school districts, higher education, and workforce partners create formalized partnerships to share research in four states. “We are grateful for ASA’s support of our college-and-career pathways work which is centered on supporting students furthest from opportunity, especially those in rural communities. This grant award will advance both our state-specific work in Indiana focused on accelerating regional talent solutions that benefit students and employers, as well as our national efforts toward establishing thriving rural collaboratives that provide expansive opportunities in students’ careers and lives,” said Alyssa Morton, CEO and Partner, Empower Schools.
American Student Opportunity Collaborative, a fiscally sponsored initiative of the National Rural Education Association, has been awarded a $1.4 million grant over three years. The funding will be used to expand services and thought leadership into 10 states: Mississippi, Arizona, Alabama, West Virginia, Missouri, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma, and North Carolina. “Thanks to ASA’s organizational support and financial generosity, our project is on its way to extend proven instructional and curricular access to rural kids across 10 states. There’s a load of work left to be done, but ASA is a critical player in ensuring that every rural student has access to the courses they need to graduate, to matriculate successfully to university and career, and to maximize their personal potential,” said Glen Lineberry, Executive Director, American Student Opportunity Collaborative.
Rodel Charitable Foundation has been awarded a $1.5 million grant over three years. The organization will leverage the funding to deepen Delaware’s high school pathways statewide system to expand into the middle school space through greater access to work-based learning and continuation of policy infrastructure to further expand the organization’s work.
SparkNC has been awarded a $1 million grant over two years. The grant will be used to fund statewide expansion of STEM career readiness programs across 20 school districts in North Carolina with a focus on rural areas. “SparkNC ignites futures in technology by helping young people develop not only high-tech skills but also success skills like collaboration, communication, and adaptability,” said Dr. Lynn Moody, President of SparkNC. “ASA’s generous support is supercharging our partnership with District C to provide Spark Teamship opportunities for learners across North Carolina where they solve real business problems for real companies.”
“Meaningful internship opportunities are too often limited to a subset of students with social capital and family connections. We are thrilled to have the support of ASA as we work with our partners at SparkNC to scale innovative, accessible internship opportunities to more students in North Carolina through our Spark Teamship program,” said Dan Gonzalez, Co-Founder and CEO, District C.
Bismarck Public Schools (BPS) has been awarded a $300,000 grant over three years. The funding will be used to create and expand a middle school career exploration facility for all students in three middle schools in BPS. “Bismarck Public Schools is grateful to ASA for the opportunity to expand career and technical exploratory experiences to our middle school students. Through the creation of a Middle School Career Academy, all students will participate in hands-on career activities throughout the school year,” said Dr. Tabby Rosenberg, Principal at the Prairie Rose School.
