Help your region’s students explore new Horizons
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Washington State team is launching a Request for Proposals to join Horizons. Horizons will provide focused investments in three regional partnerships ready to expand or scale to help more students transition from K-12 into postsecondary education.
- We will select three partnerships through Horizons, with up to $5.4 million in funding available for each partnership over the course of three school years.
- Local partnerships should prioritize efforts to improve college and career advising programs in their specific regions.
- In addition to grant funding, Horizons partnerships will have access to technical assistance to learn more about high-quality advising programs.
- They’ll also receive support to build their data capacity so they can access, analyze, and apply data to continue refining and improving programs to meet student needs.
Regional partnerships must meet some basic requirements to respond to the RFP.
- Partnerships must include at least one K-12 district and one higher education institution in the same region, as well as a “backbone” organization—often a nonprofit, community-based organization, or service provider—that brings partners together and coordinates efforts to achieve a common goal.
- These partners must be already working together on solutions that are informed by local needs and designed to support students transitioning from high school to postsecondary programs.
- They also must have existing programming that focuses on students who face the most significant barriers—including Black, Latino, and Indigenous students, and students from low-income and rural communities.
What’s next: RFP submissions are due by September 22 at 5 p.m. PT.
Why we’re launching Horizons
We spent six months talking to more than 200 community members to inform our education strategy in Washington state. Our focus on increasing postsecondary enrollment—and supporting locally led solutions—emerged from those conversations.
We’re launching Horizons today to act on our promise to our community and students.
- Nearly 90% of high schoolers in Washington state say they want to pursue a postsecondary program after graduation.
- Horizons will allow us to invest deeply in three regions to help explore programs, strategies, and tools that help students take the next step in their education and career journeys.
- Our goal: to identify approaches that can be scaled across the state, so that all students benefit.
Reminder: Limitless applications due August 18
Don’t forget: The deadline closes soon to join the Limitless Learning Network!
- Limitless, organized by Education First and separate from the Horizons initiative, is a collaborative statewide learning network that will focus on postsecondary enrollment.
- The learning network will be made up of local K-12 and higher education partnerships.
- Participants will share information, experiences, and expertise in removing barriers and supporting students in finding and following their path forward after high school.
- You don’t need to apply to join Limitless to qualify for Horizons.
What’s next: Applications are due August 18, 2023.