Scholarship, Collaboration, and Support
November 2022
How Achieve Atlanta’s Scholarship and Services Substantially Increase College Persistence and Completion
Research by Georgia State University’s Georgia Policy Labs shows that students receiving Achieve Atlanta’s scholarship and supporting services persist in college at much higher rates than similar peers who did not receive the Achieve Atlanta Scholarship. These results start the second semester of their freshman year and last through their fourth year of college. Additionally, these effects are most concentrated among students with mid-range high school GPAs, many of whom are not eligible for Georgia’s merit-based HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarships. This represents about two-thirds of all Achieve Atlanta Scholars.
These findings validate that our scholarship, cross-sector collaboration, and support are having an impact on the students we serve.
The study was conducted by Jonathan Smith of Georgia State University, Lindsay Page (Brown University), and Carycruz Bueno (Wesleyan University).
Achieve Atlanta summarizes the findings in our companion piece, Scholarship, Collaboration, and Support: How Achieve Atlanta’s Scholarship and Services Substantially Increase College Persistence and Completion.
On Wednesday, November 16, 2022, 1pm–2pm ET, we hosted a webinar that featured Achieve Atlanta staff, Dr. Jonathan Smith from Georgia State University, and some of our partners. They unpacked the evaluation findings, discussed why they matter to our collective work, and considered how we can apply them to address challenges facing students in the post-pandemic world.
*We’ll share a recording of the event here soon!
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