Explore our most recent case studies
We work to make education more accessible, affordable, accountable, and equitable
Our work is large-scale, interconnected, driven by data and grounded in learner and parent perspectives. By working in every part of the education system, we provide a broad point of view and deep knowledge that allows for bigger impact.
For over 12 years, HCM has worked across several states to transform the higher education financing model.
Since HCM’s founding, our K-12 team has focused on parent engagement across several states as a way to improve student outcomes and create more equitable opportunities.
HCM Strategists created the Courage and Hidden Common Ground Collaborative to help state-based organizations find common ground and amplify public support for equity-centered policies in support of higher education initiatives
SPOTLIGHT | Exploring the Exodus from Higher Education & Ways to Fix It
Project: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Declining college enrollments study
Length: Since our founding in 2008
Focus Area: Market + Policy Research
Category: Postsecondary
We partnered with EDGE Research for the Gates Foundation to ask over 1600 high school graduates in seven states (California, Florida, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington), why they are opting out of college.
SPOTLIGHT | Shaping the National Conversation Around Pandemic Learning Loss and the Road to Recovery
Project: Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University
Length: 2021 - present
Focus Area: Strategic Communications, Campaigns + Coalitions
Category: K-12
HCM partnered with the Center for Education Policy Research (CEPR) at Harvard University to lead the release of unprecedented data around learning loss in K-12 public schools across the country.
SPOTLIGHT | Providing Strategic Counsel for Redefining Rural Education
Project: Alliance of Regional Rural Colleges (ARRC)
Length: 2021 - present
Focus Area: Strategic Advice and Counsel
Category: Postsecondary
HCM Strategists provided strategic advice and counsel to ARRC, a new advocacy and research organization that’s challenging Capitol Hill leaders to rethink how they evaluate and fund rural and regional colleges.
SPOTLIGHT | Boosting Transfer Rates Across States
Project: TransferBOOST
Length: 2020 - present
Focus Area: Support Change Management Strategies
Category: Postsecondary
For every 100 students who enroll in community colleges, 31 students transfer to a four-year institution. Of those, only 14 complete a bachelor’s degree within six years. Too many students are derailed from their higher education goals by unexpected, unaffordable, and untenable—yet solvable—challenges along their transfer journey.
SPOTLIGHT | The Future of Data in K-12 Education
Project: U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
Length: 2022 - present
Focus Area: Support Change Management Strategies
Category: K-12
HCM Strategists’ charge is to create and support a working group focused on the next reauthorization of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the major law outlining the federal government’s involvement in K-12 education, on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
SPOTLIGHT | Supporting Campaigns & Coalitions in Washington State
Project: Washington College Promise Coalition
Length: 2017 - present
Focus Area: Design and Implement Campaigns and Coalitions
Category: Postsecondary
In 2017, HCM Strategists reinvigorated the College Promise Coalition in Washington State in support of the Coalition’s #Pathto70 campaign.
SPOTLIGHT | Aligning State Funding & Degree Attainment Goals to Close Equity Gaps Through Strategy Labs
Project: Lumina Foundation / Strategy Labs
Length: 2010 - present
Focus Area: Design, Implement and Assess Evidence-based Policy Agendas
Category: Postsecondary
Since 2010, Lumina Foundation has drawn upon the state policy team at HCM Strategists to manage Strategy Labs initiatives and offer non-partisan content expertise and facilitation aligned with Lumina’s state policy agenda to increase attainment and close equity gaps.
SPOTLIGHT | Empowering Parents & Families to Partner in Their Child’s Academic Success: Log in & Learn More in Texas
Project: Texas Education Agency (TEA) and ETS / Log In and Learn More
Partnership Length: 2017-2021
Focus Area: Research, Messaging, and Strategy
Category: K-12
HCM Strategists, in partnership with Learning Heroes and as a part of ongoing work with ETS, helped develop a robust family engagement public awareness campaign and a set of aligned resources for the Texas Education Agency (TEA) to help parents access and use state test score results in support of their child’s grade-level progress.
IMPACT | Transforming funding and financial aid systems across the country
For over 12 years, HCM has worked across several states to transform the higher education financing model.
IMPACT | Improving student outcomes by bridging the “disconnect gap” between families and schools
Since HCM’s founding, our K-12 team has focused on parent engagement across several states as a way to improve student outcomes and create more equitable opportunities.