Ascendium Philanthropy is an educational grantmaking fund that prioritizes left-of-center initiatives informed by concepts derived from critical race theory. It is a subsidiary of Ascendium Education Solutions, which is itself a member company of Ascendium Education Group, a nonprofit group that helps students pay back college loans and provides financial counseling to educational organizations. ^{1 2}

Background and History

Ascendium Philanthropy is a grantmaking fund operated by Ascendium Education Solutions, which is itself a member company of Ascendium Education Group, a nonprofit group that helps students pay back college loans and provides financial counseling to educational organizations. It is based in Madison, Wisconsin. ^{3 4}

Ascendium’s precursor was the Wisconsin Higher Education Corporation, which changed its name to Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation in 1988. Great Lakes became one of the largest student loan guarantors in the country. It is still doing business under the name of “Nelnet,” the name of another loan servicing company with which it merged in 2016. ⁵

Grantmaking

Ascendium Philanthropy’s goal is to foster postsecondary and workforce training facilities to provide “low-income learners” equal opportunities. Its grants aim to foster “upward social mobility.” ⁶

Ascendium runs a grantmaking program called “Remov[ing] Structural Barriers to Success.” It disburses grants to various universities and educational organizations that promise to make college easier for low-income students, creating “more supportive classrooms,” and forming networks for equity-minded schools to collaborate. It claims there are “institutional and systemic barriers” thwarting certain classes’ success on campus, preventing them from achieving their academic and career goals. ⁷

Ascendium Philanthropy has another grant program dedicated to giving prison inmates postsecondary education. It claims the prison population has skyrocketed over recent decades and that most inmates are “academically eligible” for postsecondary education as most have high-school or high-school-equivalency diplomas. It laments the fact that most universities do not have prison programs. ⁸

Financials

In 2022, Ascendium Education Group had a total revenue of $25,305,849, total expenses of $70,596,121, and net assets of $2,593,571,080. ⁹

Leadership

As of 2024, Richard D. George was the chairman, president, and CEO of Ascendium Education Group. Earlier in his career he worked as a bond lawyer and an investment banker. He was the founding chairman of Wisconsin Convent Foundation and the director and chairman of the finance and audit committee for the National Student Clearinghouse’s board of directors. He has consulted on postsecondary educational finance for the World Bank. In 1992, 1998, and 2007, he served as a principal negotiator on the rulemaking committees of the U.S. Department of Education regarding Title IV loan programs. He sits on the boards of the National Association of Student Loan Administrators and of Blumont, a humanitarian organization. ¹⁰

1. “Home.” Ascendium Philanthropy. Accessed January 14, 2024. https://ascendiumphilanthropy.org/.
2. “Ascendium Education Group.” Accessed January 14, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascendium-education-group.
3. “Home.” Ascendium Philanthropy. Accessed January 14, 2024. https://ascendiumphilanthropy.org/.
4. “Ascendium Education Group.” Accessed January 14, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/company/ascendium-education-group.
5. “Our History.” Ascendium Education. Accessed January 14, 2024. https://www.ascendiumeducation.org/who-we-are/our-history/.
6. “Home.” Ascendium Philanthropy. Accessed January 14, 2024. https://ascendiumphilanthropy.org/.
7. “Remove Structural Barriers to Success.” Ascendium Philanthropy. Accessed January 14, 2024. https://ascendiumphilanthropy.org/our-grantmaking/remove-structural-barriers-to-success/.
8. “Expand Postsecondary Education in Prison.” Ascendium. Accessed January 14, 2024. https://ascendiumphilanthropy.org/our-grantmaking/expand-postsecondary-education-in-prison/.
9. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Ascendium Education Group. 2022. Part I, lines 12, 18, 22.
10. “Our Leaders.” Ascendium Education. Accessed January 14, 2024. https://www.ascendiumeducation.org/who-we-are/our-leaders/.