A Strategic Approach
Georgia State provides micro grants to students each semester to help cover modest financial shortfalls affecting the students’ ability to pay tuition and fees and prevents them from stopping their studies or dropping out. In 2018, more than 18,000 of Georgia State’s 25,000+ bachelor’s-degree-seeking students (72 percent) had some level of unmet need. This means that even after grants, loans, scholarships, family contributions and the income generated from students working 20 hours a week, the students lack sufficient funds to attend college.
Each semester, hundreds of qualified students are dropped from their classes for lack of payment. For as little as $300, Panther Retention Grants provide the emergency funding to allow students who want to get their degrees the opportunity to stay enrolled. In 2018, more than 2,000 Georgia State students were brought back to the classroom—and kept on the path to attaining a college degree—through the program.
Since the start of the program, more than 86 percent of grant recipients have gone on to graduate, most within two semesters. With more than 12,000 grants awarded over the past six years, the Panther Retention Grant program has prevented thousands of students from dropping out of Georgia State.
How It Works
Staff examine the drop lists for students who are on track for graduation using our academic analytics, and have unmet need and modest balances for tuition and fees. Students are offered micro grants on the condition they agree to certain activities, including meeting with a financial counselor to map out plans to finance the rest of their education. Last academic year, more than 2,000 grants were offered, including hundreds to Perimeter College students.
Source:
GSU Office of Institutional Research
Know Your Students
Georgia State Undergraduates on Pell
- Percentage on Pell
Addressing the Problem
Impact of Financial Need on Academic Performance
- % of Students with 3.0 GPA or Higher