The Context
Atlanta leads the nation in income inequality and has one of the lowest rates of social mobility in the entire country. In fact, recent research suggests that a child living in poverty in Atlanta has about a four percent chance of moving out of poverty and into a higher income bracket in his or her lifetime.
Despite these odds, Atlanta’s students have dreams for their futures and their families. In 2015, Achieve Atlanta (AATL) was launched by a group of local leaders determined to support these dreams. Coming together initially with the goal of dramatically increasing the number of Atlanta Public School (APS) students who earn a degree. Achieve Atlanta today, inspired by the power of strategic, coordinated action, and using data as the spark for change, has expanded its vision for the future to include eliminating the degree attainment gap in the city, and making Atlanta a place where race and income no longer predict postsecondary success or upward mobility. A new Strategic Plan deepens and augments the organization's programming and support and expands its geographic footprint in the Atlanta Metro area. The Achieve Atlanta team is now growing to lead this exciting next phase of work, and to help us scale organizationally.
The Work
In pursuit of its vision, Achieve Atlanta’s mission is to help APS students access, afford, and earn postsecondary credentials. To do this, Achieve Atlanta:
- partners with college advising providers with proven results to serve APS students while they are in high school;
- establishes strategic formal relationships with postsecondary institutions that can successfully serve APS graduates, especially those who are first generation or come from underrepresented populations;
- is progressing along a plan to mobilize broad community support by leveraging data to accelerate collaborations that further college access, persistence, and completion in Atlanta; and
- provides Achieve Atlanta Scholarships to students to reduce financial barriers to college enrollment and completion.
The Results
It’s clear that Achieve Atlanta’s endeavors are yielding significant gains; driving an increase in college enrollment and persistence, creating greater access to financial aid and scholarships, securing meaningful commitments from partners, identifying and removing barriers to college completion, and supporting APS to institutionalize a culture that raises awareness of and encourages the pursuit of postsecondary education, thereby enhancing individual students’ ability to realize their own potential.
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