National Council for Community and Education Partnerships

What National Council for Community and Education Partnerships does

National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1999 and headquartered in Washington, DC, operating as the designated national association for the federal GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) initiative. The organization serves GEAR UP programs and the professionals who run them (program directors, coordinators, school-based staff, and evaluators), as well as the students from lower-income communities who benefit from GEAR UP-funded college and career readiness services. NCCEP's role spans advocacy with Congress, the White House, and the U.S. Department of Education; professional development delivery; data and evaluation support; and direct youth programming.

NCCEP's product portfolio includes the Study Lab on-demand online professional development platform (launched 2020, redesigned 2025), cohort-based Learning Labs (Onboarding, College Advising, College Success), Career & College Clubs for in-school and after-school youth programming, the Youth Leadership Summit, and the College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium (CCREC). Technology infrastructure is intentionally lightweight: the organization is a membership-based services and advocacy entity rather than a technology company, with its website hosted on Squarespace and Stripe used for e-commerce transactions. Registered service marks (Career & College Clubs, Building a Brighter Future) anchor brand identity.

NCCEP generates revenue through three streams: recurring membership fees from education professionals and institutions; tax-deductible donations supporting youth programming and scholarships; and professional development program fees (Learning Labs at $1,000 for members/$4,400 for non-members, and Study Lab courses at $50-$400 with member discounts and a 1:1 match benefit for GEAR UP program enrollment). Distribution is direct membership plus national events (Annual Conference, National GEAR UP Academy, Directors' Summit) and digital channels (The Quad community platform, On the Ground Podcast, GEAR UP Digest newsletter). The federal GEAR UP appropriation of $388 million in 2024, which NCCEP helped advocate, is the upstream revenue engine for the ecosystem NCCEP serves, not NCCEP's own operating revenue.

Name

National Council for Community and Education Partnerships

Legal name

National Council for Community and Education Partnerships

Website

https://edpartnerships.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) is the designated national association for the federal GEAR UP initiative, providing advocacy, professional development, data and evaluation support, and youth programming to help students from lower-income communities access higher education.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Professionals (Teacher/Administrator CE, CPD) (EDAAALAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies) (THAHACAA)

Keywords

• College access programs
• Professional development training
• Education advocacy services
• Youth leadership programming
• Nonprofit education association

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership fees: NCCEP operates as a membership organization where education professionals, GEAR UP program staff, and related professionals join to access resources, training, professional development, and networking opportunities.
2. Donations and contributions: NCCEP is a 501(c)(3) organization that accepts tax-deductible donations to enhance youth programming, provide scholarship awards, and strengthen national advocacy for GEAR UP students and families.
3. Professional development program fees: Revenue is generated through Learning Lab enrollment fees ($1,000 for members, $4,400 for non-members) and Study Lab course purchases ($50-$200 for members, $100-$400 for non-members). NCCEP members receive a 1:1 match benefit for GEAR UP program enrollment in Study Lab courses.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) operates as the designated national association for the federal GEAR UP initiative, delivering membership-based professional development, training, technical assistance, and advocacy services to GEAR UP programs and education professionals. The organization provides online self-paced courses (Study Lab), cohort-based Learning Labs, youth programming such as Career & College Clubs and the Youth Leadership Summit, and data/evaluation infrastructure through the College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium (CCREC).

Product overview

NCCEP offers a portfolio of education-focused programs and professional development services centered around the federal GEAR UP initiative. The core offerings include Study Lab (an online professional development platform), Learning Labs (cohort-based training programs), Career & College Clubs (youth programming for schools), Youth Leadership Summit (national student leadership training), and the College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium (CCREC). These products work together to advance college access, readiness, and success for students from lower-income communities through advocacy, research, and professional development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Study Lab An online professional development platform offering on-demand, self-paced courses curated for GEAR UP professionals, covering topics such as Introduction to GEAR UP, Building a Communications Plan, and Problem-Solving with Design Thinking.
• Learning Labs Short-term, cohort-based professional development programs combining live virtual sessions with peer networking and online coursework. Includes the Onboarding Learning Lab, College Advising Learning Lab (co-hosted with Bottom Line), and College Success Learning Lab.
• Career & College Clubs Youth programming designed for schools and after-school programs, providing students with college and career readiness activities and guidance. Career & College Clubs is a registered service mark (SM) of NCCEP.
• Youth Leadership Summit National leadership training program that provides in-depth leadership development for select students, helping them become well-rounded students, leaders, and entrepreneurs.
• College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium (CCREC) A consortium that works to ensure GEAR UP programs have the data infrastructures and evaluation designs required to continually improve their practices and impact.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Bottom LinenotableStrategic or Co-development PartnerBottom Line partners with NCCEP to co-host the College Advising Learning Lab. This partnership combines Bottom Line's college advising expertise with NCCEP's GEAR UP professional development infrastructure to help professionals learn how to help students research, apply to, and select the college that fits their needs.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination): National nonprofit college-readiness system delivered in K-12 schools with PD for educators — partially comparable in that it trains school-based staff in college readiness methodologies and serves high-need school populations similar to GEAR UP schools.

Direct peers

• National College Attainment Network (NCAN): National membership association for organizations running college access and success programs — directly overlaps NCCEP's mission of supporting professionals who serve first-generation and low-income students through GEAR UP-style programs.
• Bottom Line: National college access nonprofit providing direct advising services to students from low-income backgrounds and explicitly partnering with NCCEP to deliver the College Advising Learning Lab — overlapping audiences and overlapping PD/topical content.
• uAspire: National nonprofit focused on college affordability advising and financial aid navigation for low-income students — overlaps NCCEP's GEAR UP-aligned training topics and shares a similar mission-driven nonprofit operating model.
• Excelencia in Education: National nonprofit that accelerates Latino student success in higher education through research, advocacy, and program support — operates with an analogous advocacy + programmatic-support model and serves a similar college readiness constituency.
• Council for Opportunity in Education (COE): National nonprofit association representing TRIO and other federal college access programs — the closest structural analog to NCCEP for GEAR UP, since TRIO and GEAR UP are sibling federal college-readiness initiatives, and COE plays an equivalent advocacy + PD + member-services role.

Broad incumbents

• American School Counselor Association (ASCA): Large national professional membership association that supports school counselors through PD, advocacy, and resources — comparable to NCCEP as a membership-driven PD provider for education professionals, though broader in scope than GEAR UP.
• College Board: Large established nonprofit that provides college readiness assessments (PSAT/SAT/AP), college access programming, and educator PD — overlaps NCCEP's College Readiness focus and offers comparable professional learning offerings at much larger scale.
• National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC): Large professional association supporting college admission counselors with advocacy, training, and conferences — serves a closely adjacent constituency to NCCEP's GEAR UP professionals and operates with a similar association + events + PD model.

Emerging players

• Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP): Nonpartisan research and advocacy organization focused on postsecondary access and success — comparable to NCCEP's CCREC-style evaluation and policy advocacy arm, with overlapping research outputs on college readiness programs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/edpartnerships
• YouTubeyoutube.com/nccep
• Facebookfacebook.com/nccep
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-council-for-community-and-education-partnerships-nccep-
• Instagraminstagram.com/edpartnerships

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Council for Community and Education Partnerships