Mission of CTE

The Rationale for Our Work

less than five percent of college graduates surveyed strongly agreed that they had both of these experiences while an undergraduate student—meaning that higher education has a very large gap to close if it is to have the transformational impact students want and need.

These findings were reinforced in a recent study conducted by Gallup in partnership with Bates College designed to explore the extent to which college graduates seek purpose in their work and to identify the college experiences that align with finding purpose after graduation.4 The study found that 80% of college graduates say that it is extremely important (43%) or very important (37%) to derive a sense of purpose from their work. Yet less than half of college graduates succeed in finding purpose in their work. Likewise, the study showed that graduates with high purpose in work are almost ten times more likely to have overall well-being. As with earlier studies, this research confirmed that finding purpose in work is highly correlated with “having someone who encourages students’ goals and dreams” and having the opportunity to link curriculum to real world issues through internships or jobs.

These two Gallup results are consistent with findings broadly across the literature  in higher education from other sources5 and are further reinforced by the work of  Carol Dweck on Mindset6. Dweck’s research indicates that shaping the attitudes,  behaviors and beliefs students have about themselves—not just content  knowledge—can be life-transformative. While her work has primarily been in the  K-12 arena, more recent studies show that the same principles of growth mindset  apply in higher education with very significant results⁷.

Hear Dr. Miller explain the origin and impetus for the
Coalition for Transformational Education.

Belonging: Mental Health and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The Coalition for Transformational Education

In response to these observations and findings, a diverse coalition of colleges and  universities have come together to take on the grand challenge question: If the  learning experiences identified in the Gallup findings and elsewhere are so  profound, don’t we have a moral obligation to ensure that they are made  available to every student, not merely those students who encounter them  through serendipity or optional co-curricular activities? All of these institutions  offer, in one form or another, the kinds of life-transformative experiences  described in the Gallup findings. But it will take creativity, determination, and  tapping into the unique strengths of each of them to meet the grand challenge  described above.

The institutions listed on the CTE website have committed to pursue the aspirational challenge stated above—to bring life-transformative educational experiences to every student at scale—at each of our institutions and to share what we learn, with each other and with every other organization (e.g., ⁴  community colleges, continuing and professional education programs and high schools) interested in bringing life-transformative learning experiences to every student in America.

The assembly of universities in this coalition—from across the nation, ranging from large to small, public and private, research and professional—is unprecedented in its breadth and ambition. It is also differentiated by its focus on explicitly linking what happens with students after graduation to experiences they have in college, rather than maintaining a narrow focus on degree completion. The two foci are not at odds of course. Indeed, we believe that when students are empowered, as they move through their studies, with a sense of belonging, agency, purpose, and the power of knowledge, it not only lays the foundation for success in life and work, it also motivates them in real time to persist through degree completion.