Dive Brief:

• The Los Angeles Times profiles UCLA's expanding work to support secondary schools in Los Angeles through extensive mentoring, teaching and administrative support lent from students and faculty. 
• The university's community schools program allows members from its graduate education programs to assist with curriculum design and delivery, while providing key workforce development for future and current teachers at various work sites in vulnerable areas. 
• The programs mirror similar initiatives launched by the University of Southern California and Loyola Marymount throughout Los Angeles. 

Dive Insight:

These are the ideal constructs for improving communities, developing workforce in a crucial public sector and showing state legislatures how systems can be consolidated or work together in order to produce a more capable citizenry.

Dozens of schools nationwide have similar partnerships with school districts, but are seeking support to make these models sustainable. If colleges can pair research with results on how universities boost income prospects and reduce future debt loads for students, and how these partnerships help in convincing students to remain in-state for college, states could reap the dividends in a short period of time.