Gates Foundation Stakes on AI and Credentials to Boost Student Success Ahead of 2045 Wind-Down

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Wednesday refreshed its U.S. education strategy, unveiling five-year goals designed to smooth students' paths from K–12 through college completion and into the workforce. The update pairs ambitious short-term targets with a long-term aim to motivate millions to earn meaningful credentials before the foundation's planned sunset in 2045.

Goals Through 2030

By 2030 the foundation aims to drive measurable gains in student outcomes: higher math achievement, more first-generation college entrants, sharply improved freshman pass rates, and a 25% increase in college credits that transfer successfully between institutions. The plan also sets a long-term aspiration to galvanize 10 million people to earn valuable academic or professional credentials over the coming decades.

Context: The 2045 Wind-Down

This strategic refresh comes roughly a year after the foundation announced a 20-year timeline to wind down its operations by 2045. As part of that process, the organization expects to distribute roughly $200 billion in assets across its global portfolio, drawing to a close five decades of major philanthropic investments in education, global development, and public health.

AI At The Center — With Caveats

Artificial intelligence figures prominently in the refreshed plan. The foundation intends to accelerate adoption of AI tools for classroom instruction and college advising—everything from tutoring chatbots to analytics dashboards that help teachers and counselors prioritize interventions.

At the same time, foundation leaders acknowledge mixed results so far: teacher use of AI has grown quickly, but standards for safety, effectiveness and implementation lag behind. National survey data cited by the foundation show that teacher use of AI nearly doubled from spring 2024 to spring 2025, yet 68% of teachers reported receiving no training on AI and only 19% said their school had a formal AI policy. The U.S. Department of Education has issued guidance on responsible AI use, but many districts and schools remain unprepared.

"We're concerned about the proliferation of tools out there, where teachers and school leaders and district leaders don't have the information they need to discern which ones to use or not to use," said Allan Golston, president of the foundation's U.S. Program.

Teacher- and Advisor-Facing Tools

The foundation emphasizes teacher- and advisor-facing innovations rather than only student-facing apps. Officials argue that AI can synthesize frequent assessments, core curricula and supplemental resources into actionable reports so teachers can focus on instruction instead of data wrangling.

As an example, the foundation pointed to Atlas, a dashboard built by ed-tech company Kiddom and piloted with roughly 180 teachers in New York City. Atlas used short end-of-day quizzes to deliver near-real-time updates on students' mastery of math concepts; middle school students using the system outperformed demographically similar peers on the same assessments over time. Beyond measurable gains, the tool reduced the burden on teachers by consolidating disparate inputs into a single interface.

"The burden of trying to make meaning out of all those inputs — which are critical to providing a quality education — rests on the teacher right now," Golston said. "We think it's possible to have AI do that behind the scenes and give teachers the information they need to be outstanding teachers for every single student."

Targeting High-Leverage Transition Points

Improving math outcomes has been central to the foundation's K–12 work since its $1.1 billion investment in curriculum development and teacher training in 2022. Wednesday's announcement reaffirms that focus and sets a specific target of substantially increasing the number of students who complete Algebra I by ninth grade—an inflection point tied to later access to advanced STEM coursework.

Other priorities include redesigning first-year college classes to reduce freshman withdrawals from STEM courses and making credit transfers smoother across institutions. The plan highlights the role of AI in helping overburdened college advisors—especially in under-resourced high schools where counselors may serve 400 or more students—by tracking application tasks, FAFSA completion, and other administrative requirements so human advisors can concentrate on mentoring and planning.

"A huge share of their time goes to red tape rather than actually working with kids," wrote Carly Robinson, a Stanford researcher focused on AI and educator-student relationships. "If AI can absorb that logistical load, you're not replacing the counselor. You're directing them to be able to do more of the important work with students."

Uncertainties and Next Steps

What role AI will ultimately play remains uncertain. Golston noted that rapid advances in frontier technology could bring unforeseen classroom uses—late-night tutoring for college coursework, or tools that help students and institutions map how credits earned across multiple systems add up toward a degree.

Golston, who is scheduled to leave his role at the end of August, emphasized that the renewed focus on secondary and postsecondary transitions does not represent a retreat from younger learners: reaching Algebra-by-ninth-grade goals requires stronger math curricula beginning in kindergarten.

Disclosure: The Gates Foundation provides financial support to The 74.