About College Persistence Coalition

The College Persistence Coalition (CPC) was founded to close one of the most urgent yet overlooked gaps in education: helping students not just access college, but persist through and graduate into meaningful careers that pave the pathway to economic mobility. 

CPC brings together high schools, colleges, and employers through Innovation Design Labs and Practicums, where regional teams co-design real solutions to the toughest pain points in persistence. We also provide strategic support in dual enrollment programs, professional development for college faculty, and we’re piloting groundbreaking initiatives like our Gateway Math Lab, which tackles the toughest barrier course for college students nationwide while equipping students with transferrable enduring skills to succeed academically and socially.

Our vision is simple but bold: to create a seamless bridge between K–12, higher education, and the workforce so that every student—not just the top quartile—can thrive in college and beyond. We prototype, pilot, and scale what works, acting as both convener and catalyst for sustainable change.