Array Education, Inc.
Project Title
For core support of Prelude
Date
Mar. 05, 2026
Duration
24 months
Description
High-quality work-based learning experiences greatly enhance college and career outcomes, yet only 2 percent of high school students nationwide participate in internships, a gap that disproportionately affects lower-income students lacking professional networks and career exposure. Prelude addresses this issue with their Learn & Earn high school internship model, which integrates structured skill development, mentorship, and career exploration into the school day, showing stronger program persistence and providing financial benefits as students earn $5,500 annually. Founded in June 2021, Prelude has since expanded their program from serving 29 students in one high school to 84 students across five cities. With Carnegie support, Prelude aims to double the enrollment in the Learn & Earn program, reaching 300 student interns in two years, who will work 6-10 hours weekly with employer partners such as Audible, Wells Fargo, NFI Industries, and The Campbell’s Company. The program not only equips students with essential professional skills and workplace experience but also significantly boosts their potential earnings, with a goal of 90 percent of students enrolling in college or securing full-time employment within six months of graduation.
Project Title
For core support of Opportunity College
Date
Mar. 07, 2024
Duration
24 months
Description
Founded in 2020, with Corporation support, Opportunity College’s (OC) mission is to accelerate students into purpose-filled lives that lead to economic and social mobility. In partnership with high schools, training programs, and universities, OC’s professional and technical training programs help students quickly accelerate into high-demand jobs aligned with career goals and efficiently build toward a college degree. Corporation support allowed for the launch of OC’s Career Jumpstart Fellowship, a fifteen-week success skills program focused on upwardly mobile living-wage jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree and which allows for online training for high-demand tech sector jobs. The first two pilots resulted in 80% of participants completing the program, 100% passing the certification exams, and beginning employment with a median wage of $40,000. Continued Corporation support will allow for the program’s growth and serve another cohort of students needing these services.
Project Title
For core support for Opportunity College
Date
Dec. 08, 2022
Duration
12 months
Description
Founded in 2020, Opportunity College’s (OC) mission is to accelerate students’ into purpose-filled lives that lead to economic freedom. OC’s programming addresses a critical gap in the education-to-employment ecosystem: learn-to-earn opportunities where students can get good jobs and college degrees. In partnership with high schools, training programs, and universities, OC is building educational pathways that accelerate opportunities for youth into first solid jobs that will enhance their college and career success. Currently, OCoperates two programs: a dual enrollment program for high school seniors and a career jumpstart program for recent high school graduates who are unemployed or underemployed. In addition, corporation support will focus on funding OC’s third CareerJumpstart pilot, a fifteen-week success skills program focused on upwardly mobile living-wage jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree. These pilots have and will continue to significantly inform our overall degree program model, institutional operating model, and economic model design.
Project Title
For core support for Opportunity College
Date
Dec. 02, 2021
Duration
12 months
Description
Founded in 2020 Opportunity College’s (OC) mission is to accelerate students into purpose-filled lives that lead to economic freedom. OC’s programming addresses a critical gap in the education-to-employment ecosystem: learn-to-earn opportunities where students can get both a good job and a college degree. In partnership with high schools, training programs, and universities, OC is building educational pathways that accelerate opportunity youth into strong first jobs that will enhance both their college and career success. Currently OC operates two programs: a dual enrollment program for high school seniors, and a career jumpstart program for recent high school graduates who are unemployed or underemployed. Corporation support will allow OC to deploy a fifteen-week success skills program focused on upwardly mobile living-wage jobs that don’t require a bachelor’s degree. Corporation support will focus on the development of an accredited 60-credit associate degree program, in which students explore their career interests; gain personal, professional, and industry-specific technical skills; and complete work-based learning experiences as part of a virtuous learning cycle with stackable credentials toward college completion.
Project Title
For support of the nXu program
Date
Jun. 14, 2018
Duration
17 months
Description
In addition to academic rigor, research suggests that a sense of purpose, and support to identify and pursue that purpose, is necessary to enable students to reach their full potential. According to the Higher Education Research Institute, 79 percent of young people in America report that they are searching for meaning and purpose in their lives, and numerous studies confirm that a sense of purpose is linked to positive physical, mental, and emotional health outcomes. Yet, there is a lack of high-quality learning experiences that support adolescents to engage in purpose development. Uncommon Knowledge and Achievement’s (UKA) nXu program fills this gap, supporting and enabling high school students to explore, articulate, and pursue their goals. With prior Corporation support, nXu successfully completed a strategic planning process and implemented a pilot program with a cohort of twenty-four students. Continued support will enable the iteration, improvement, and expansion of this program to serve more students.
Project Title
For support of the nXu pilot project.
Date
Jun. 01, 2017
Duration
8 months
Description
A growing body of evidence suggests that academic rigor, while necessary, is alone insufficient to prepare students for success in a 21st century economy. Students also require socio-emotional supports to reach their full potential as individuals and as leaders. Uncommon Knowledge and Achievement’s (UKA) nXu initiative is a newly designed program for high school students centered around a set of character-building standards, called Compass Standards, that support and enable young people to explore, articulate, and pursue their goals. With Corporation support, UKA will pilot the nXu approach, bringing together a diverse group of twenty-four New York City students from district, charter, and private schools to create new and life-changing learning opportunities that transcend conventional boundaries of the school building and school day. Specifically, Corporation support will enable the nXu Summer Immersive experience in July 2017 and multiple Compass Team cohort experiences during Fall 2017.