Over the past two decades, 番茄视频 (ACE) has joined forces with partners in various fields nationwide to make a world-class education accessible to as many students as possible. We strive to be a solution to human capital gaps that have plagued our nation for decades. Partnership in education isn鈥檛 a new or trendy approach, however. It has been part of who we are since before we even came to be.
Valuing Partnership Since Before Day One
The year before ACE offered its first course, prominent educators and business leaders gathered in concern regarding a shortage of educators and educational leaders as well as a large number of students who don鈥檛 finish college. The group believed that leveraging the power of technology and offering fully online degree programs would make education more accessible, but it wouldn鈥檛 be possible without intentional collaboration.
ACE built its first cohort of students through a partnership with one of the largest school districts in the country. The district sought a flexible and affordable way to invest in their educators, inspire retention and create a pipeline of skilled educational leaders. A handshake later, and the district鈥檚 educators had the accessible learning opportunities they deserved through ACE.
ACE cofounder Thomas Evans reflected, 鈥淚t鈥檚 an honor to have been part of ACE鈥檚 founding, and our first school district partnership launched what would become 20 years of collaborative relationships with school districts, health systems, businesses and beyond. We had a strong desire to address educational crises by marrying the power of online learning with affordability 鈥� two components educators desperately needed, and still need, to earn degrees. It鈥檚 truly astonishing to think about how a group can come together with a mission and dream and then see the tremendous success of ACE and its graduates.鈥�
Addressing Human Capital Shortages Through Partnerships
Fast forward to 2025, our partnership model has exponentially expanded and grown as we collaborate with over 2,500 partners. We鈥檙e now impacting areas in and beyond education as well as building more opportunities that benefit our partners. Thousands of students are experiencing accessible education, and ACE is committed to continuously expanding our efforts.
Solutions That Develop a Network of Credentialed Educators
Our educational partnerships with school districts and other education-focused organizations have supported various needs nationwide.
Temple Independent School District is one of many success stories as they sought to develop their paraprofessionals into licensed educators. Their Director of Employee Relations, Adrian Lopez, stated about their partnership with ACE, 鈥淲e have seen many teachers excited about the opportunity to advance their careers from paraprofessionals to licensed educators. There is a sense of pride within the cohort of teachers in the program, and it鈥檚 terrific to see that. They want to succeed and contribute to the district meaningfully because they鈥檙e profoundly grateful that we are willing to support their career goals.鈥�
Partnering with community colleges allows us to build bridges between their program offerings and ours, resulting in accessible and affordable opportunities for students seeking higher levels of education.
Rick Kemp, Dean of Instruction and Partnerships at Rio Salado College, said, 鈥淎CE has proven to be a valuable and responsive partner in providing both flexible and affordable content-specific graduate credit options for high school dual enrollment teachers. The graduate credit content area instruction and prior learning assessment options provided by ACE meet a critical need in providing viable pathways for dual enrollment teachers toward meeting their credentialing requirements.”
Pathways That Support Evolving Healthcare Needs
Educators are not alone in the threat of national shortages, as the global pandemic significantly impacted nursing and healthcare personnel numbers. As our program offerings expanded into these areas, we rolled up our sleeves and created accessible education pathways through partnerships with hospitals, nursing and healthcare organizations, businesses, community colleges and more.
Dr. Margi Schultz, Nursing Faculty Administrator for Maricopa Community Colleges, shared, 鈥淲orking with the ACE team to create a seamless, efficient pathway for a concurrent enrollment program for the RN to BSN (Maricopa Nursing) to MSN with ACE was a wonderful collaborative experience. The ACE team is responsive and student-focused. We have had an amazing response from our students and look forward to our continued partnership.”
The ACE Partnership Model
ACE offers customized solutions through the power of partnership. Our model doesn鈥檛 take a uniform approach with presumable one-size-fits-all benefit options. Instead, we identify needs and collaborate on effective solutions.
Oftentimes, our partners fall into a few high-level buckets: K-12, higher education or healthcare and nursing. We pinpoint how ACE programs can build human capital pipelines that address staffing gaps with advanced degrees and/or certifications.
Within this process, we collaborate with partners on potential benefits to their employees (and students in higher education partnerships). Benefits could include tuition reduction, seamless transfer pathways from a program the partner offers to one of our programs, transcription of coursework the partner offers into academic credit and more. Our higher education partnerships are sometimes eligible for concurrent enrollment, where their students can simultaneously complete schoolwork at their college and ACE to expedite completion.
From before ACE began 20 years ago to today and beyond, we hold close to the legacy our founders laid upon us to make education accessible to as many students as possible. We are proud of the tremendous impact of our partnerships, and we are committed to continuing to make a difference as a solution-based, collaborative partner.
Learn more about partnership opportunities at 番茄视频.
