MAPS Project
A student-centric initiative to chart the shifting landscape of higher education.
Data science is a primary driver of measuring, articulating, and expanding social impact success at a local and national level.

The Sorenson Impact Center is partnered with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to chart the features of higher education and what they mean for students using data-driven research.

In the first phase of this project we researched and simulated future postsecondary enrollment numbers across the U.S. With ongoing work supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we’re refining our data modeling and leading a team of researchers from nonprofits, private industry, think tanks, and universities to chart student-centric solutions for institutions facing declining enrollment.

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"The Sorenson Impact Center brings a research and data-oriented focus, but are willing to tackle real-world problems with practical solutions."

Our Partners

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Our Challenge

Birth rates, wages, tuition prices, and other factors are leading to cohorts of first-time college-goers that are smaller and more racially diverse every year. If current trends continue, that body of students will enroll in institutions of higher education (IHEs) that are increasingly dependent on tuition dollars, rather than government funding, to cover operating costs.

Our Work

We developed data models, convened a working group of experts, and supported ongoing research in order to better understand what enrollment decline could mean for students and what IHEs can do to adapt. We call this the MAPS project.
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MAPS Project updates