The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation plans to spend several hundred million dollars over the next five years to double the number of low-income young people who complete a college degree or certificate program by age 26. Foundation officials described the ambitious plan to an exclusive group of education leaders, citing 2025 as a target goal. If successful, the new postsecondary program would help an additional 250,000 people per year earn some type of higher-education credential. The program broadens the foundation's spending on education, which has previously focused on secondary schools and college scholarships.