Form 990 for tax year 2024

Totals

Total revenue

$266,994,248

Total expenses

$169,298,500

Contributions and grants received

$0

Grants paid

$119,269,181

Program service revenue

$253,446,464

Investment income

$10,801,794

Other revenue

$2,745,990

Total assets, end of year

$222,593,303

Total liabilities, end of year

$12,196,962

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$210,396,341

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$155,535,743

Management and general expenses

$13,762,757

Fundraising expenses

$0

Program service expenses (Part III)

$155,535,743

Program services were 91.9% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2024

• ASCENDIUM EDUCATION SOLUTIONS, INC. OPERATES TO PROVIDE COST EFFECTIVE ENABLEMENT OF ACCESS TO AND SUCCESS IN POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION BY PROVIDING FULL-RANGE GUARANTY AGENCY SERVICES TO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND OTHERS IN PURSUIT OF AND PARTICIPATION IN POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FEDERAL HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965, AS AMENDED.

  Expenses $154,946,377 · Grants $4,492,943 · Revenue $256,185,291

• IMPACT INVESTING IS ONE OF THE KEY WAYS WE ACCOMPLISH OUR MISSION TO CHAMPION OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERYONE. OUR INVESTMENTS ADVANCE CHANGE TO POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE TRAINING SYSTEMS THROUGH NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND SOLUTIONS SO MORE LEARNERS CAN ACHIEVE THEIR ACADEMIC AND CAREER GOALS THROUGH EDUCATION RELATED VENTURE EQUITY AND DEBT INVESTMENTS.

  Expenses $511,605 · Grants $265,705

• ASCENDIUM EDUCATION SOLUTIONS, INC. PROVIDES PHILANTHROPIC SUPPORT FOR LOCAL COMMUNITIES - WHERE ITS EMPLOYEES LIVE AND WORK, PRIMARILY CONCENTRATED IN MADISON, WISCONSIN. THIS SUPPORT INCLUDES EDUCATION-FOCUSED COMMUNITY GIVING, AN EMPLOYEE GIVING PROGRAM, AND FINANCIAL AND PERSONNEL SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY SERVICES THAT ALIGN WITH OUR EDUCATION FOCUS. COMMUNITY GIVING EFFORTS FOCUS ON SUPPORTING LOCAL COMMUNITY SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS AND POST SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS. THE ASCENDIUM CARES PROGRAM FEATURES AN ANNUAL EMPLOYEE CHARITY FUNDRAISING DRIVE, A VOLUNTEER TIME-OFF PROGRAM, AND FINANCIAL MATCHING FOR TIME AND FUNDS DONATED TO ELIGIBLE NONPROFITS. OTHER SERVICES INCLUDE FREE TRAINING AND MEETING SPACE SUPPORT FOR LOCAL NONPROFITS.

  Expenses $44,907 · Grants $3,677,905

• ASCENDIUM'S EDUCATION PHILANTHROPY FOCUSES ON INCREASING OPPORTUNITY FOR UPWARD ECONOMIC MOBILITY FOR LEARNERS FROM LOW-INCOME BACKGROUNDS THROUGH HIGH-QUALITY POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE TRAINING. GRANTMAKING AND RELATED ACTIVITIES SUPPORT INNOVATION, EVALUATION AND EVIDENCE-BUILDING, AND SCALING SOLUTIONS THAT ARE PROVEN TO HELP MORE LEARNERS ACHIEVE STRONG CAREER OUTCOMES. ASCENDIUM ALSO MAINTAINS PHILANTHROPIC INITIATIVES FOCUSED ON THE SUCCESS OF LEARNERS WHO EXPERIENCE GREATER BARRIERS TO UPWARD MOBILITY, INCLUDING RURAL LEARNERS AND THOSE EXPERIENCING INCARCERATION.

  Expenses $32,854 · Grants $109,232,628

• ASCENDIUM'S TOOLS OF THE TRADE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM PROVIDES FUNDING TO APPRENTICES FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THEIR TRAINING, INCLUDING THE PURCHASE OF TOOLS, EQUIPMENT, TUITION AND MORE. THIS IS THE TENTH YEAR OF OUR TOOLS OF THE TRADE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM. SINCE 2013 THE PROGRAM HAS PROVIDED OVER $5 MILLION IN SCHOLARSHIPS TO ELIGIBLE CONSTRUCTION ABD INDUSTRIAL TRADE APPRENTICES ENROLLED AT A WISCONSIN TECHNICAL COLLEGE SYSTEM (WCTS) COLLEGE.

  Grants $1,600,000

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

• MERIT AMERICA

  $7,560,000

  Grant, Scaling IT Support and Data Analytics Certificate Programming for Learners from Low-Income Grant, Accelerating Workforce Training Pathways via Merit America's Opportunity Fund

• MDRC

  $7,363,369

  Grant, Strengthen and Scale Multiple Measures Assessment Implementation Grant, Examining Faculty Decision-Making in Course Equivalency and Transfer Grant, Learning Partner for Future Sectoral Training Evidence-Building Initiative Grant, Travel Grant - National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students Grant, Sectoral Training Evidence-Building Initiative Grant, Building & Applying Strong Evidence About Postsecondary Success & Economic Mobility

• TEACHERS COLLEGE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

  $3,557,052

  Grant, Paving the Way to Equitable, Adequate and Effective Community College Funding Grant, Expanding and Sharing the Evidence Base of Key Student Success Reforms Grant, Supporting National Reporting on Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training

• LOUISIANA BOARD OF REGENTS

  $3,325,000

  Grant, Supporting National Reporting on Postsecondary Education and Workforce Training

• AMERICAN INSTITUTES FOR RESEARCH IN THE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

  $3,274,500

  Grant, Assessing Quality and Equitable Access and Outcomes of Distance Postsecondary Courses for the Incarcerated Grant, Rural Research Support Partner Grant, Advancing Postsecondary Competency-Based Education Pathways via Next-Generation Outcomes Research & Data Grant, Identifying and Scaling Programmatic Technical Assistance in Postsecondary Education in Prison Programs

• BLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS INC

  $3,000,000

  Grant, Blue Meridian Partners Impact Investment

• ACHIEVING THE DREAM INC

  $2,846,040

  Grant, Redesigning Pathways for Adult College and Career Success Grant, Project Success Formative and Summative Assessment Grant, Project Success 2024-2025 Grant, Travel Grant - Rural Summit Grant, Exploring Shortened Academic Terms DREAM 2024 Registrations (4), Scholar Patron & Community Forum Sponsorships, February 19-22, 2024 Sponsorship & Registration - Dream 2025 (6), 2/18-2/21/25 Sponsorship & Registration - Redesign for Results 2024 (10), 10/11/24 Sponsorship & Registration - Equity and Justice Institute 2024 (3), 5/1-5/2/24

• NEW VENTURE FUND

  $2,682,500

  Grant, NCII Impact Fund - Rural Guided Pathways Grant, Scaling the Leadership Academy for Student Success Grant, Expanding Rural Guided Pathways

• SOCIAL FINANCE INC

  $2,503,500

  Grant, Exploring Innovative Financing to Strengthen Pre-Apprenticeships, Creating Rural Talent Finance Partnerships, and Establishing the Social Finance Institute

• WISCONSIN REGIONAL TRAINING PARTNERSHIP INC

  $2,500,000

  Grant, Coalition-Led Career Pathway Initiative Framework for Apprenticeship Expansion in Wisconsin

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Related organizations on this return

Schedule R Part II: tax-exempt organizations related to the filer by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

• ASCENDIUM EDUCATION GROUP INC

  501(c)(3) · STDNT LN SVCS · WI

  Directly controlled by NA

Taxable family on this return

Schedule R Parts I, III and IV, as filed. These record ownership and control, not shared board members or money moved.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2024

Filed

24 October 2025

IRS schema version

2024v5.1

Source object

202522979349302117

Check it against the return as filed: the GivingTuesday Data Lake hosts a public copy of the original XML.

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