Today’s students bring incredible aspirations and potential to their educational journeys, yet the leap from high school to postsecondary education or training remains a significant hurdle for many. While nearly 90% of Washington State’s high schoolers express a desire to continue their education, only half enroll in postsecondary programs. This gap reflects systemic challenges, particularly for students of color and those from low-income families, who are often navigating financial pressures, family responsibilities, and other barriers. By building stronger, more inclusive pathways between high school and what comes next, we can unlock opportunities for all students to thrive in their chosen careers and beyond.
Recognizing these challenges, the Gates Foundation’s Washington State Initiative (WSI) made a pivotal $4M place-based investment to launch the Limitless Learning Network. This effort, designed to reimagine how systems collaborate to improve student transitions, was incubated and launched in partnership with Education First.
The Limitless Learning Network emerged from the urgent need to address the fragmented handoffs between K-12 and postsecondary systems and to create stronger, more coherent pathways for students. In Fall 2023, we brought together 26 local partnerships, representing educators, district and higher education system leaders, and regional partners such as Educational Service Districts (ESDs), libraries, and youth development organizations. These partnerships have become a hub for collaboration, learning, and innovation, advancing efforts to close postsecondary enrollment gaps across the state.
Through Limitless, practitioner leaders—including college and career readiness district directors, higher education enrollment staff, and nonprofit organizations—have deepened their capacity to drive change. They’ve developed relationships that break down silos, explored and shared strategies that are spreading across regions, and tackled both upstream and downstream factors critical to strengthening pathways.
The Network’s flexible funding has allowed partnerships to pilot innovative solutions, test ideas, and focus on continuous improvement. With $25,000 per academic year, plus travel and lodging support provided by the Gates foundation for two in person convenings a year, partnerships have had resources to try new approaches and consider how to scale what is working.
Over its first year, the Limitless Learning Network has demonstrated the transformative impact of intentional relationship-building and collective action. By connecting leaders across K12, higher education, and community organizations, the Network is catalyzing progress toward a shared vision: a future where every student has access to strong, equitable pathways to postsecondary success.
The purpose and design of the Limitless Learning Network is to:
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Improve partnership capacities to drive cross-system engagement, action and outcomes and support scaling in the long term across Washington State. |
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Improve data capacity for increased access to and use of high school to postsecondary data among participating Learning Network members. |
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Increase awareness and improve access to strategies and approaches (e.g., strategies related to high-quality advising, FAFSA and dual credit completion, etc.), as well as improve ability to implement these strategies among practitioner leaders who support the transition of students from high school to postsecondary and who prioritize closing equity gaps. |
