By Amanda DeLaRosa, Director of Program and Strategy, College Futures Foundation 

Last month, College Futures Foundation hosted its first convening of partners and leaders to introduce an initiative to reimagine postsecondary value for economic mobility. This was the first of many convenings in College Futures’ interconnected strategy to ensure postsecondary education in California leads to upward mobility. I left the Golden Opportunities Summit feeling what I hope everyone else did too: energized, challenged, and absolutely certain that the work ahead is both urgent and achievable. 

The day was a powerful convergence of perspectives—from researchers unpacking new measures of value, to institutional leaders reimagining campus culture, to policy and advocacy leaders reminding us what system-level urgency looks like. At its core, the Summit was about articulating where we go next, together. 

A New Kind of Value Conversation 

At College Futures, we’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: we’re not here to simply defend the value of higher education—we’re here to redefine its purpose. 

The true test of postsecondary education should be whether it moves people forward—economically, socially, and across generations. And for too many Californians, especially those from underserved communities, that promise has too many qualifiers. 

That’s why our Golden Opportunities Initiative is moving into its next phase of strategic grantmaking with clarity and ambition. This phase is about focusing the field, complicating the narrative on postsecondary value, and organizing for impact in a rapidly changing economy. We don’t have all the answers—but we know they won’t come from any one institution or sector alone. That’s why we are seeking partners ready to build, question, and co-create the next chapter of postsecondary value—together. 

What We Heard 

Across every session, one truth kept rising to the surface: equitable economic mobility must be the guiding star of postsecondary education—and we are not there yet. 

From the opening panel, Michael Itzkowitz of the HEA Group reminded us that while return on investment (ROI) is strong in aggregate, it conceals wide gaps in who benefits, by income, race, and region. His challenge was clear: we have the data—so now what? 

California Competes’ Su Jin Jez, PhD asked us to shift our frame entirely: What would it look like to build a system centered on the learner, rather than on the institution? That’s at the heart of forthcoming research her team is leading in partnership with College Futures and Strada Education Foundation to disaggregate economic mobility outcomes regionally in California. 

Jessie Ryan of the Campaign for College Opportunity and Sameer Gadkaree of The Institute for College Access and Success challenged us to tackle the structural barriers that prevent postsecondary education from delivering on its promise. What good are programs if they don’t align with the jobs and economy learners are entering? Jessie posed a provocative idea: What if California became the first state to guarantee universal credit for prior learning? In follow-up coverage, Jessie’s op-ed in The Hechinger Report conveyed that now is the time for California leaders to vociferously defend the values that power our fight for racial and economic justice in the next evolution in higher education. 

Diego Arambula of the Carnegie Foundation brought it home: “When only a few kids go off to succeed, the rest are left behind. If we care about a place, we must care about education systems that serve everyone, not just some.” 

In his keynote, Aneesh Raman, Chief Economic Opportunity Officer at LinkedIn, offered a sweeping call: We’re no longer in a knowledge economy—we’re in an innovation economy. And our systems must evolve. “Work,” he said, “is not yet pro-human.” Higher education must be. 

Our institutional leaders echoed this theme powerfully. Christiane Spitzmueller, PhD representing UC Merced emphasized that stability and adaptability must go hand in hand, while CSU San Bernardino President Tomás Morales reminded us of the transformational power of belief—a teacher, a parent, a system that says, “Yes, you are college material.” President Ellen Neufeldt set the bold ambition that CSU San Marcos will be a national leader in social and economic mobility. The expectation at the leadership level transcends the entire institution. 

We spent time celebrating the top 15 4-year institutions in California delivering on the promise of economic mobility for underserved learners, according to the California Mobility Index. 

And in our final panel, Eloy Ortiz Oakley, President and CEO of College Futures Foundation, said it best: “We can’t simply out-message skepticism—we have to out-perform it.” 

Whether we were discussing research, system alignment, or student experiences, the message was clear: economic mobility isn’t just a possibility – it should be an expectation for every learner. 

What’s Next: From Insight to Action 

1. We’re digging deeper into the data.

We know the median earnings story is incomplete. When you disaggregate by region, race, age, and credential type, the picture becomes more complicated—and more urgent. 

We’re asking: 

• • Who’s being left behind? 

• • Which credentials deliver? 

• • What are the real drivers of economic mobility—and what’s at risk of becoming irrelevant in this evolving economy? 

This summer, we’ll publish a new ROI analysis focused on California’s two-year colleges, breaking down outcomes by region and highlighting the state’s critical open access mission. We’ll also release case studies from Public Agenda spotlighting ingredients of the secret sauce at institutions where we see equitable economic mobility being realized for underserved learners. This isn’t research for the sake of research. It’s about protecting learners from low-value pathways and lifting up the models that actually help move people onward and upward. 

2. We’re not launching a PR campaign. We’re building a power base.

At College Futures, we don’t think the answer to rising public skepticism is simply better messaging. We think the answer is creating more value—for more learners—in more places. 

The research backs us up: economic mobility outcomes are not equitably distributed. Not by learner identity. Not by institution. Not by region. So, our focus is on systems change, not spin. 

We’re building networks—connecting researchers, policy and advocacy leaders, institutional champions, funders, and learners—to advance a new narrative on value. One rooted in equity, outcomes, and opportunity. Together, these networks will drive policy alignment, elevate bold leadership, and reimagine the systems needed to ensure postsecondary education delivers real value for every learner. 

The next phase of the Golden Opportunities Initiative is about moving from diagnosis to direction.  

If we do this right, we won’t just get smarter—we’ll get stronger.
We won’t just name the gaps—we’ll close them.
And we won’t just affirm the promise of higher education—we’ll improve it. Together.  

To everyone who joined us at the Summit: thank you for bringing your candor, your vision, and your urgency. Thank you for being among the first to show up and raise your hands. We need leaders like you to help rebuild the California dream for everyone.