In May 2010, NEI awarded a grant of $230,000 over two years to the MDC Inc. to support the implementation of the Achieving the Dream (ATD) program at Oakland Community College and Washtenaw Community College. This investment is funding the first two years of ATD participation for two new colleges in Michigan. 

MDC Inc. is a 40 year-old 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Throughout its existence, MDC Inc. has helped organizations and communities close the gaps that separate people from opportunity through program services in education, work, and assets.  MDC’s approach focuses on increasing community and institutional capacity by improving the quality and availability of higher education and promoting the critical link between postsecondary credentials and the economic well-being of people and communities. 

ATD is a national initiative to help more community college students succeed, particularly low-income students and students of color.  A partnership of seven national organizations led by MDC, ATD provides support for over 100 colleges in 22 states. 

ATD defines student success as earning degrees or certificates or transferring to a four-year institution.  The initiative focuses on student groups that have faced the most significant barriers to success.  Community colleges are widely recognized as the single most affordable and accessible entry point to higher education, and are therefore critical to the success of our country’s disadvantaged populations and to equity in America. 

ATD is the only national coalition working to create systemic change in the community college landscape through direct work with colleges and engagement with policy actors.