College students have several options to finance their education. These college financing decisions (e.g., grants, loans, scholarships, work study, and direct payment) can have an impact on students’ financial circumstances during and after college. This study will evaluate the impacts of the scholarship and associated services provided by the Child & Family Policy Lab’s newest partner, Achieve Atlanta (AATL), on the ways in which students can finance their post-secondary education. It will also evaluate the impacts of the AATL scholarship and associated services on students’ financial circumstances during and after college. AATL provides scholarships (up to $5,000 per academic year) and services to students who graduate from the Atlanta Public Schools (APS), are experiencing low income, and meet a GPA threshold.

We will explore how AATL impacts students’ financial circumstances while enrolled in college, with a focus on students who enroll at a University System of Georgia or Technical College System of Georgia campus. Some analyses will also consider students who enrolled elsewhere. The primary method will be to compare otherwise-eligible students (i.e., students who are eligible, experience economic hardship, and who are enrolled in APS for at least two years) whose GPA falls on either side of the thresholds that determine the AATL scholarship amount. We will also estimate regression models that control for available student attributes (e.g., demographics, high school, SAT scores). Outcomes will include financial outcomes and outcomes measuring academic progress (e.g., number of courses completed, course performance).