News & Updates
Achieving the Dream (ATD), a national network that works with community colleges, today announced it is taking part in a national effort to improve how colleges use technology to support students.
Colleges and universities now serve a wide range of learners, including high school students taking college classes, working adults, and parents balancing school with jobs and family responsibilities. As student needs become more complex, institutions are looking for better ways to use technology to help students find information, get advising, and stay on track to complete their goals.
The effort brings together higher education organizations and philanthropic partners, including the Gates Foundation, to strengthen the digital tools colleges rely on to support students more consistently and effectively.
Through the Digital Holistic Student Supports initiative, ATD and DataKind, a global nonprofit that connects data science and AI experts with social impact organizations, will come together to design and implement digital approaches that strengthen how institutions support students towards completion. Working with MDRC, a nonprofit social policy research organization, to evaluate and document learnings from these efforts, ATD and DataKind will utilize funding to help institutions harness their existing data, align people and processes, and deploy technology in ways that enable timely, personalized, and proactive support.
Over a two-year grant period (2026–2027), participating institutions will engage in co-designing and testing new approaches to generate practical insights to inform the field. This intensive experience will deliver impact by strategically pairing new technology with actionable leadership, accurate data, and thoughtful implementation.
“Colleges are navigating a moment of profound change, with students bringing increasingly complex goals, responsibilities, and expectations to their postsecondary journeys,” said Dr. Karen A. Stout, president and CEO of Achieving the Dream. “This initiative is about ensuring that technology serves as an enabler — not a replacement — for strong relationships, sound practice, and institutional responsibility. By partnering with DataKind and MDRC, we are helping colleges use data and digital tools more intentionally to deliver timely, personalized support that keeps students on track to complete credentials that matter for their lives and their communities.”
Five institutions have so far been confirmed to participate, with a sixth to be added later in 2026. All participating institutions will receive a $500,000 grant from Achieving the Dream to support their participation.
Confirmed institutions include: