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When colleges and universities invest in their students and communities, the return is transformative – exceptional student outcomes through sustainable institutional practices.
Whether it’s redesigning a gateway course or the first two years of college, our field-tested experts know where and how to start to get your institution what it needs to win.
We’ve been enhancing the undergraduate experience since 1999.
The Brevard, North Carolina-based John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education, co-founded by Betsy O. Barefoot and John N. Gardner, traces its origins to work first conducted under the name of the Policy Center on the First College Year with initial support coming from the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Supported thereafter through a combination of grants and fees for services, the non-profit Gardner Institute has served hundreds of colleges and universities of all types – public and private, two-year and four-year, and minority-serving institutions. The Institute has done so as a mission-driven public charity.
The varied forms of the Institute’s work include efforts such as the development of consortia, the facilitation of an array of evidence-based student success improvement efforts, the administration and evaluation of national surveys, and other institutional transformation efforts. The Institute’s work has helped the field become a more equitable academic space for learners while transforming and strengthening diverse institutions around the country and the globe.
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