APS, Creekside, and Tri-Cities High School seniors, the Achieve Atlanta Scholarship application is NOW OPEN! Click here to learn more and apply.
Strengthen Credential Completion and Workforce Alignment
Work-based experiential learning opportunities motivate students to persist through college and provide pathways for students to enter the workforce. However, because many work-based learning opportunities remain unpaid, students from lower-income backgrounds are less likely to participate in these opportunities.
Increase Access to College and Career Counseling for High Schoolers
Currently, Georgia’s K-12 funding formula supports a student-to-counselor ratio of 450:1, yet the American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250:1. Given the complexities of navigating the college application and financing process, targeted and intentional postsecondary advising can make or break a student’s ability to access a college education. Learn more by watching this video.
Georgia Takes a Historic Step Toward Need‑Based Aid for College
Last week, in his final State of the State address, Governor Brian Kemp announced a historic $325 million investment in need-based scholarships for Georgia’s students. His proposal acknowledges what many families already know: postsecondary education is essential to upward mobility. Yet far too many students are held back not by talent, but by financial barriers.Â
Achieve Atlanta’s model was built on the very premise driving the Governor’s proposal: when students with financial need receive targeted support, they enroll, persist, and graduate. Independent research shows that Achieve Atlanta’s need-based scholarships are making a difference: students report lower debt, reduced stress, and increased academic focus. As a result, they’re progressing and graduating at rates equal to or higher than their peers without financial constraints. Â
Our results offer a proof point for what is possible—not just for Atlanta students, but for students across Georgia. Tens of thousands of people statewide face similar financial barriers and need-based scholarships are a proven strategy to close those gaps.Â
Achieve Atlanta was proud to join advocates, researchers, and students last fall in sharing data and testimony with the Senate Study Committee on Higher Education Affordability. The Committee’s recommendation laid the groundwork for the Governor’s proposal, and we’re encouraged to see those ideas moving toward action. Â
This is a pivotal moment for Georgia. By expanding need-based financial aid, we can close the credential gap, strengthen the workforce, and ensure opportunity for all. Together, we can make college affordable and keep Georgia thriving. Let’s get to work.Â
Achieve Atlanta’s 2026 Policy Priorities
We’ve launched a new webpage outlining Achieve Atlanta’s policy priorities and the efforts we’re championing to support Atlanta students. We’re also excited to share a mini video series during the session to highlight each of our priorities.
For example, the university was awarded the William T. Grant Institutional Challenge Grant, a five-year, $1 million award received in 2022 by GSU’s Georgia Policy Labs in collaboration with Achieve Atlanta, an educational nonprofit that partners with postsecondary institutions and other nonprofits to help Atlanta Public School students access, afford and earn postsecondary credentials.
“Achieve Atlanta has always been a data-forward organization,” says Jonathan Smith, associate professor of economics at Georgia State University, W.J. Usery Chair of the American Workplace and a faculty director with the Georgia Policy Labs. “But through Georgia Policy Labs, we’ve been able to connect Achieve Atlanta’s data to other organizations to better understand students’ circumstances, financial needs and outcomes in and through college. This has, for example, led to an expansion of the Achieve Atlanta scholarship to more students in the Atlanta Public Schools and [a recently] announced expansion into the Fulton County School District. Additionally, the collaboration and research have led to some programmatic changes within Achieve Atlanta and a better understanding of who benefits the most from the scholarship and under what circumstances.”
In this video you’ll see our bold, refreshed look and hear from members of the Achieve Atlanta community about our unwavering commitment to Atlanta’s students. Achieve Atlanta is more than a scholarship; it’s a journey. Join us on this journey as we continue to empower Scholars to achieve their dreams of postsecondary success and upward mobility.
Through it all, his dream school remained Tech. And with the help of his school support network and Achieve Atlanta, a local nonprofit providing resources and guidance to Atlanta students to navigate higher education opportunities, McCrary successfully submitted his first-year application and financial aid forms.
Atlanta Public Schools Awards Achieve Atlanta 2025 District Partner of the Year
Atlanta Public Schools (APS) celebrated its outstanding teachers, leaders, and partners at the 2025 APyeS! Awards on Saturday, November 1, at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.
Achieve Atlanta was awarded the 2025 District Partner of the Year award based on the organization’s impact across the district. Over the last decade, Achieve Atlanta has supported APS in increasing college access and success for APS graduates, leading them on a path to upward mobility. Achieve Atlanta has also provided APS graduates with more than $65 million in scholarship funding for their higher education. Achieve Atlanta’s mission is to help students access, afford, and earn a postsecondary credential.
This special occasion also featured student performances from the South Atlanta High School Jazz Band, Booker T. Washington High School’s Bad to the Bone Dance Ensemble, the North Atlanta High School Virtuosi, and was hosted by FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Aungelique Proctor.
APS Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson was joined on stage by the members of the Atlanta Board of Education to present the awards to the evening’s honorees.
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Achieve Atlanta announces new partnership with Fulton County Schools
Achieve Atlanta supports students with scholarships and mentorship to achieve degrees or credentials.
Who is a Contributor on the FAFSA?
A contributor is anyone required to provide information, a signature, and consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred directly into the FAFSA form. This may include the student, the student’s spouse, a biological or adoptive parent, or a stepparent. Contributors are not financially responsible for the student’s education.
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