Impatient Optimists
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Topics / Postsecondary Education

A high school education is not enough to compete in today’s global economy. Yet by age 30 most Americans have not earned a college degree or certificate. Our Postsecondary Success Strategy aims to dramatically increase the number of young adults who complete their postsecondary education, setting them up for success in the workplace and in life.

Learn more below and visit the program page for more details about our work in this area.

Helping Consumers Find Value in Higher Education

May 01, 2013 / Daniel Greenstein

A student’s investment in college is one of the biggest and most important decisions they will make. They should know whether the college they’re considering graduates most of its students on time, how often students transfer away from that college and how often graduates get good jobs. It’s in everyone’s best interest to help make college decisions well-informed decisions.

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Rethinking Community College: A Look at New Community College in New York City

April 23, 2013 / Dr. Scott Evenbeck

New Community College in New York City is taking a new approach to supporting student achievement.

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A New Approach to Education

April 12, 2013 / Alexandra Kamins

Black Mountain SOLE is the first residential self-organised learning community for students who want to become self-experts, unleash their passions and creativity, unlock their innovative and world-changing problem-solving skills, and learn by doing.

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2013: The Year of Adaptive Learning

April 10, 2013 / Adam Newman

Adaptive learning offers an opportunity to enhance the instructional effectiveness of colleges and universities and to deliver more personalized pathways to students. If 2012 was the MOOCs’ year for capturing venture capital and unrelenting media coverage, 2013 looks to be a big year for the adaptive learning space.

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How Do We Address Higher Education Operating Costs? Start With a Shared Vocabulary

April 05, 2013 / Maria Anguiano

The higher education industry and its observers have wrung hands over rising costs long enough. It’s time to create the common financial language that can explain it.

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  • "Our desire to bring every good thing to our children is a force for good throughout the world. It’s what propels societies forward." —Melinda Gates

  • The Global Fund has helped to deliver more than 190 million bed nets to protect families from malaria.

  • "The world faces a clear choice. If we invest relatively small amounts, many more poor farmers will be able to feed their families." —Bill Gates, 2012 Annual Letter

  • "When it come to global health, Bill and I are optimists—but we're impatient optimists. Tremendous progress is being made. But there is still so much we're impatient to see done." —Melinda French Gates

  • In Senegal, 80% of households now have a bed net, helping the number of malaria cases there drop 50% in a single year.

©2013 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation