Gates Foundation New Goal Focuses on Credentials of Value

Rodney Choice/Choice Photography

The Gates Foundation has a new North Star: ensuring 10 million learners ages 18 to 34 earn “credentials of value” by 2045. That’s double the current rate of growth.

The new goal and a fresh strategic plan for how to get there were announced Wednesday. Allan Golston, president of the foundation’s U.S. program, says the shift is largely due to a finite window facing the organization. Last year, the philanthropy’s founder Bill Gates announced that it must spend roughly $200 billion before it closes permanently Dec. 31, 2045.

“If we get this right, the result will be more than higher completion rates or stronger educational outcomes,” Golston wrote in an online post about the new vision. “It will be a country where aspiration matters more than circumstance and where opportunity is within reach for far more learners.”

Golston, who has been in his position since 2006, is slated to move on at the end of August. Patrick Methvin, the current director of postsecondary success, who has worked at the foundation since 2013, will serve as interim president. 

The strategy for helping students obtain certifications that lead to “a good job and a better life” comes in four parts and starts in high school. Specifically, the foundation hopes to:

• Ensure students complete Algebra 1 on time
• Provide proper academic and career advising services throughout their high school and postsecondary years
• Redesign introductory college courses to improve passage rates 
• Promote stronger credit-transfer programs