Research by Georgia State University’s Georgia Policy Labs shows Achieve Atlanta Scholars who receive scholarships and support services persist in college at much higher rates than similar peers without those resources.
The scholars are 11 percentage points more likely to continue from freshman fall to spring semester with similar results in subsequent semesters. The findings were most concentrated among scholars with 80-90 high school GPAs, many of whom were not eligible for Georgia’s merit-based HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships.
“We placed our bets on this belief that to change big social problems, you’ve got to have cross-sector collaboration with a common vision, common goals and a lot of accountability,” said Tina Fernandez, Achieve Atlanta founding executive director.