The Digital Innovation for Equity & Excellence in College Admissions (DIEECA) cohort brings together a collective of colleges and universities to pursue interrelated strategies that build deep academic and recruitment relationships with lower-income high schools, aided by technology. The inaugural 2023-24 cohort is working together to build sustainable and scalable practices to advance access, success, and equity through digital education.

Cohort members commit to implementing at least one strategy (listed below) at their institution, participate in events and engagements throughout the project, and share aggregate data and outcomes from their institution’s plan to contribute to research efforts.

What is the goal of the cohort?

Over the course of the year, cohort members will engage with experts and one another as they plan, develop, and implement any of the following strategies at their institution.

  1. Recruit talented high school students newly identified through innovative digital programs, like National Education Equity Lab and OnRamps.
  2. Help more students develop and demonstrate their college readiness by offering high-quality, college credit-bearing courses for high school students at low-income high schools.
  3. Recognize student performance in these courses, both in admissions and in credit transfer earned.

What are the benefits of joining the cohort?

  • Support and resources from organizations like Ithaka S+R, National Education Equity Lab, and OnRamps that can expertly support and guide institutions
  • Engagement with a community of institutions to learn from and collaborate with
  • Opportunities to engage with high-performing Ed Equity Lab scholars, and Title 1 high schools, through the National Education Equity Lab
  • Opportunity to participate in a research effort that aims to understand the long-term impact of the calls to action on your campus
  • Tangible institutional impact from having implemented the calls to action, such as new admission feeder pipelines with Title 1 high schools

2023-2024 Cohort

Allegheny College
Cornell University
Emory University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Santa Clara University
Stanford University

Stevens Institute of Technology
University of California System
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University
Wesleyan University

This project is a collaboration between Ithaka S+R, the American Talent Initiative, Stanford University, and National Education Equity Lab. For more information, please reach out to Carmen Araoz (Carmen.Araoz@ithaka.org).