Georgia State, Leading U.S. in Black Graduates, Is Engine of Social Mobility

Shantil Jones’ story is just one of many success stories to emerge in the last decade from Georgia State University. Jones, one of the few in her family to attend college, welcomed the personal support from her university advisor. She benefited from the new systems in place that are designed to nudge students towards graduation. In 2003, GSU shifted their focus to student retention and became determined to implement top down solutions to improve graduation rates for low-income, first-generation students. In just under 15 years, GSU’s graduation rate improved from 32% to 54%.