NASH Awards $220,000 to California Institutions for Innovative Initiatives that Remove Cost as a Barrier to College Access

Washington, D.C. – The National Association of Higher Education Systems (NASH) is proud to announce the 32 recipients of its latest Catalyst Fund awards, totaling $220,000, all supporting institutions within California’s public higher education systems. This funding round, generously supported by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, focused on initiatives aimed at removing cost as a barrier to college through innovative practices that enhance affordability and support equitable access to higher education.

NASH sought out programs and initiatives at institutions within the California State University system, University of California system, and California Community Colleges system that demonstrated innovative practices with potential for replication and scale. The Catalyst Fund focuses on discovering innovative ideas to share with NASH’s extensive network of systems nationwide, helping advance all students.

“We are thrilled to recognize innovative initiatives across all three of California’s public higher education systems. With NASH’s support these institutions are breaking down financial barriers, making higher education more accessible and affordable for all students,” said Jessica Todman, Executive Vice President at NASH. “This investment is a testament to our commitment to fostering student success and sharing best practices across our extensive network through the Power of Systems. We hope the insights gained from this work will enable us to scale evidence-based interventions beyond California, as the collective efforts of all our systems aim to advance prosperity for the nation.”

 

The awardees include:

American River College

*Cerritos College

Coalinga College

College of the Canyons

Crafton Hills College

Cypress College

De Anza College

Foundation for the Los Angeles Community Colleges

Fullerton College

Glendale Community College

Hartnell College

Lemoore College

Modesto Junior College

Norco College

Southwestern College

Cal Poly Humboldt

Cal Poly Pomona

CSU Channel Islands

CSU Chico

CSU San Bernardino

CSU San Marcos

San Diego State University

*Sonoma State University

UC Berkeley

*UC Davis

UC Merced

UC Office of the President

*UC Santa Barbara

 

*Institutions that received awards for two different proposals. 

 

These institutions and system offices presented a number of initiatives focused on areas such as making college accessible and affordable for low-income students by addressing financial needs not covered by traditional aid, and reducing net tuition through various means such as reduced rates, fee waivers, scholarships, and microgrants for basic needs. Some also emphasized improving the communication and transparency of cost and financial aid information, providing comprehensive support services like daycare, transportation, food banks, and affordable housing, and implementing strategies to decrease time to degree for low-income, traditionally underrepresented, and non-traditional students.

“NASH’s Catalyst Fund empowers our colleges to implement groundbreaking solutions that address the financial challenges some students face,” said Sonya Christian, Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. “By enhancing affordability and accessibility, we can ensure that higher education is within reach for everyone. This collaboration highlights the power of collective efforts in transforming lives and communities across California.”

“As the nation’s largest and most diverse public four-year university system, providing equitable access to a high-quality education is central to the California State University’s mission. We are grateful to NASH for funding innovative programs at our universities that help remove financial barriers and increase academic and career opportunities for our diverse students,” said Mildred García, California State University Chancellor. “Through our engagement with NASH and collaboration with our California public higher education partners, we are building scalable models to advance student success that exemplify our nation’s fundamental value of opportunity for all.”

“By focusing on affordability and access, we can provide more equitable opportunities across our campuses,” said Michael Drake, President of the University of California. “NASH’s support allows us to continue implementing innovative strategies that reduce financial barriers for our students. This work exemplifies our shared commitment with NASH to advancing educational success and inclusivity.”

About the NASH Catalyst Fund

The NASH Catalyst Fund encourages broad engagement of member systems in sharing promising practices that are leading to equitable student success outcomes scalable to fellow systems. Its impact will be far-reaching but the concept is simple: through pooled philanthropic support, NASH can recognize and incentivize the development of our members’ big ideas that, once proven to work, have the potential to be scaled not only across a single system but amongst peers around the country.

The first round of the NASH Catalyst Fund included $275,000 to recognize hotspots of best practices that demonstrate interventions that are already underway and proving to be successful with the potential to have a catalytic impact in meeting NASH’s measurable goals. More information can be found here. 

About the National Association of Higher Education Systems

Founded in 1979, the National Association of Higher Education Systems (NASH) works to advance the role of multi-campus systems and the concept of systemness to create a more vibrant and sustainable higher education sector. NASH systems are comprised of more than 700 campuses and serve more than 7.5 million students in nearly every state in the United States. To learn more about NASH and its national transformation agenda, the Power of Systems, visit www.nash.edu.