Pilots
Built on a program that already works.
Ascend did not start as an idea on a slide. It grew out of an established university program that supports students with their finances — proof that the model of knowledge plus human support can hold up on a real campus.
As Ascend runs its own pilots, this is where the evidence will live. We would rather show you the program now and report measured outcomes when they are real than lead with numbers we cannot yet stand behind.
Proof of concept
Where Ascend comes from
Utah Valley University runs a Money Success Center — a program where students get personal, one-to-one help with their finances from trained student peers. It has shown, on a real campus, that students will engage with money support when it is approachable and genuinely human.
Ascend takes what that program proved and makes it portable: the same pairing of guided learning and peer support, packaged so any university can host it with a donor behind it. The originating program is the reason we are confident the approach travels — not a set of outcomes we are claiming as our own.
What we will measure
As pilots run, these are the questions we are answering — with real participation, reported plainly. The figures are not in yet, and we will not invent them.
Student engagement
How students take up the learning and reach out to a counselor — measured from real participation as each pilot runs.
Confidence and wellbeing
Whether students feel steadier about money decisions after time in the program. Being measured directly with the campuses we work with.
Retention signal
Whether financial support shows up in students staying enrolled. The question Ascend is built to answer, and the one we will report honestly.
Want to see it for yourself?
The best way to understand Ascend is a conversation. We can walk you through the program, the proof behind it, and what a pilot on your campus could look like.