American Student Assistance Announces Intention to Invest Up To $125 Million to Increase Access to Career Readiness Learning Opportunities for Today’s Youth

American Student Assistance (ASA), a national nonprofit changing the way middle and high schoolers learn about careers and navigate education-to-career opportunities, announced its intention to invest up to $125 million over the next four years in mission-aligned funds and private companies. Specifically, through its strategic impact investment, ASA will look to foster innovation in career-focused education, intentional postsecondary pathways, and workforce development.

ASA’s goal for the strategic investment is to provide millions of young people with greater access to high-quality, digital-first career readiness learning experiences in and beyond the classroom on their devices, including phones, laptops, and tablets. Equipped with opportunities to discover their interests and explore career possibilities as early as the middle grades level, experiment through hands-on work-based learning in high school, and gain an understanding of the full range of non-degree pathways to success post high school, today’s young people will be well positioned to make an informed plan that helps them to achieve long-term economic mobility.

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“With millions of pandemic-era disconnected youth who are neither working or attending school, our strategic impact investment will address the lack of access to career readiness learning opportunities for students earlier in their education journey,” said Jean Eddy, CEO and President of ASA. “We embrace this tremendous opportunity to invest in targeted funds and partner with organizations that are dedicated to helping more young people achieve their education and career goals. We believe this will ultimately lead to less debt, more happiness in chosen career fields, and a more sustainable economy.”

To improve outcomes for today’s youth, ASA’s targeted funds and direct investments will target support for the following:

• Increase access to career readiness learning programs and technology
• Decrease financial stress of a traditional postsecondary education, and increase knowledge of and confidence in choosing multiple pathways that lead to gainful employment and economic mobility
• Create and maintain equitable job opportunities for the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged, especially now in the face of COVID-19
• Provide students with more voice and choice over their education-to-career journey, so learning becomes a more collaborative effort
• Create workplaces that utilize technology and invest in training to promote a sustainable workforce with minimal skill-gaps and turnover

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