DegreesNYC

What DegreesNYC does

#DegreesNYC is a data-informed collective impact movement, co-led by young people and education professionals, that works to expand access to and completion of postsecondary education across New York City. It is supported administratively by Goddard Riverside, a community-based nonprofit, and operates from 352 W 110th Street in New York. The organization targets the documented college attainment gap in NYC, where only 28 of every 100 high school students complete a four-year degree as of 2022, and where large racial and socioeconomic disparities persist in bachelor's degree attainment.

The core product surface consists of a longitudinal Data Dashboard built in partnership with the Research Alliance for New York City Schools, using datasets from the NYC Department of Education and CUNY to track student journeys from 9th grade through college persistence and completion, with filters for race/ethnicity, gender, borough, ELL status, IEP status, and poverty status. Surrounding the dashboard is a portfolio of research publications (Changing the Odds Report, Student-Ready Schools & Campuses Report, Transfer Pathways Study with John Jay College), free student and counselor toolkits (Postsecondary Planning & Success Resource Guide, Remote Learning Toolkit, COVID-19 resources), youth media initiatives (Students of New York / SONY, COVID Chronicles, Artivists in the City), and recurring convenings such as the Changing the Odds Summit and Citywide Summits. The Youth Council and Data Fellows programs implement youth participatory action research (YPAR), positioning students as co-researchers rather than passive subjects.

The business model is philanthropic rather than commercial. DegreesNYC is structured as a nonprofit initiative under Goddard Riverside, funded primarily by grants including the Gates Foundation (which funded the Data Dashboard), with all programs, resources, and events provided free of charge to NYC youth, families, educators, and policymakers. Go-to-market relies on community organizing, social media, public events, research publication, and policy advocacy (including op-eds in Gotham Gazette and NYN Media and a Stanford Social Innovation Review article) rather than paid customer acquisition. There are no disclosed revenue figures, headcount, or grant amounts in the source data.

Name

DegreesNYC

Legal name

#DegreesNYC

Website

https://degreesnyc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

#DegreesNYC is a nonprofit collective impact movement, co-led by NYC youth and education professionals under Goddard Riverside, that produces longitudinal student-outcome research and a Data Dashboard to advance educational equity and college completion across New York City.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Equity Advocacy and Research

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Internship/Apprenticeship Matching & Work-Based Learning Platforms (EDAFAMAL)

akta.pro secondary industries

Title I & Compensatory Education Programs (EDAJAGAJ), Diploma-to-Degree / Articulation & Credit-Transfer Pathways (EDAIAJAG)

Keywords

• Education equity advocacy
• Collective impact nonprofit
• Youth development services
• Postsecondary planning resources
• Education data research

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grants and Donations: DegreesNYC is a nonprofit organization supported by Goddard Riverside and funded through philanthropic grants, including from the Gates Foundation. Revenue is used to fund operations, Youth Council programs, Data Fellows research initiatives, and community programming.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

DegreesNYC is a data-informed collective impact movement co-led by NYC youth and education professionals that delivers free programs, original research, and interactive data tools aimed at expanding postsecondary access and completion for underserved students in New York City. Its core offerings include the Youth Council advocacy program, the Data Fellows youth co-researcher initiative, the longitudinal Data Dashboard, and a suite of research publications and resource guides addressing college access, transfer pathways, and educational equity.

Product overview

#DegreesNYC is a data-informed collective impact movement focused on expanding access to education across New York City. The organization operates as a co-led initiative between young people and education professionals, supported by Goddard Riverside. Its product portfolio centers on youth-led advocacy (Youth Council), longitudinal data tracking (Data Dashboard), and research publications (Student-Ready Schools Report, Changing the Odds Report, Transfer Pathways Study). Supporting offerings include practical toolkits for students and counselors (Postsecondary Planning Resource Guide, Remote Learning Toolkit), a youth media initiative (Students of New York featuring COVID Chronicles and Artivists), and policy resources (Our Blueprint). The ecosystem is designed to drive systemic change through research, advocacy, and community engagement rather than commercial products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Youth Council: A youth-led advisory body that amplifies student voices and contributes to research and advocacy work
• Data Fellows
• Students of New York (SONY)
• Changing the Odds Summit
• S.O.S. (Surviving Online School)

Quantifiable outcome

• 28% college completion rate for NYC high school students (as of 2022)
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Goddard RiversidecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDegreesNYC is co-led and administratively hosted by Goddard Riverside, a community social services organization in New York City. Goddard Riverside provides organizational infrastructure, office space at 352 W 110th Street, and administrative support, enabling DegreesNYC to operate as a community-embedded collective impact initiative.
• Research Alliance for New York City SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Research Alliance for NYC Schools provides longitudinal student datasets powering DegreesNYC's interactive Data Dashboard and collaborates on research projects including the Student-Ready Schools report and Transfer Pathways Study. The partnership enables youth co-researcher engagement through the Data Fellows program.
• John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDegreesNYC partnered with John Jay College on the Transfer Pathways Study to investigate the success of the CUNY Justice Academy program, which graduates the highest percentage of transfer students of color of any CUNY college (43%). The partnership involves Data Fellows conducting qualitative research with transfer students.
• NYC Department of Education (NYCDOE)minorOthersStudent-level data for the Data Dashboard is sourced from the New York City Department of Education, combined with CUNY enrollment data, providing the cross-system longitudinal view of student pathways.
• City University of New York (CUNY)minorOthersCUNY provides student enrollment and completion data that complements NYCDOE data in the longitudinal Data Dashboard, enabling DegreesNYC to track student progress from high school into and through CUNY colleges.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• iMentor: iMentor pairs low-income high school students with mentors to support college readiness, persistence, and graduation. It shares DegreesNYC's emphasis on relationship-driven college access for underserved youth and operates heavily in NYC, making it a directly comparable peer in target market and mission.
• College Possible: College Possible is a national college access and success nonprofit that coaches low-income students through high school and into college completion. Like DegreesNYC, it centers on closing postsecondary attainment gaps through structured student support, with comparable mission and target population, though delivered through AmeriCorps coaching rather than collective-impact advocacy.
• Bottom Line: Bottom Line is a nonprofit that provides direct college access and success coaching to low-income and first-generation students, mirroring DegreesNYC's focus on postsecondary access and completion for underserved NYC youth. Both organizations operate with a coaching/advising model aimed at closing college attainment gaps, although Bottom Line historically emphasizes 1:1 advising over policy advocacy.
• Say Yes to Education: Say Yes provides scholarships and wraparound supports to low-income students to enable college access and completion, with deep NYC presence. It is comparable as a college-access/equity nonprofit serving similar demographics, though it pairs direct financial support with systemic partnerships rather than research and policy advocacy.

Regional players

• KIPP NYC: KIPP NYC is a charter school network serving predominantly low-income students of color in New York City with a college-prep mission. It is a regional peer addressing the same upstream college-readiness problem DegreesNYC targets through policy and research, but does so via direct K-12 instruction rather than advocacy or data products.
• Urban Assembly: Urban Assembly is a NYC-based nonprofit that partners with public schools to serve low-income students through career-connected education. It shares DegreesNYC's NYC focus and equity-driven mission for underserved youth, though it delivers impact via school programming rather than research, data, or policy advocacy.

Broad incumbents

• NYC Public Schools (NYC Department of Education): The NYC DOE is the largest school system in the U.S. and the primary institutional stakeholder DegreesNYC's research and advocacy targets. It is a broad incumbent serving the same students but as the system operator, not an external advocacy or research entity; its data feeds DegreesNYC's dashboard.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/DegreesNYC?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
• Facebookfacebook.com/DegreesNY
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/degreesnyc
• Instagraminstagram.com/degreesnyc/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about DegreesNYC