Understanding the Impacts of Emergency Micro-Grants on Student Success

The Panther Retention Grant (PRG) program at Georgia State University (GSU). which specifically targets students who are in good academic standing and have exhausted all other sources of aide, automatically awards up to $2,500 to clear students' unpaid balances and allow them to remain enrolled for the term. Since the program was piloted in 2011, it has awarded 10,000 grants to GSU students and has undergone many changes in scope, focus, and eligibility criteria. This study is the first to attempt to estimate the causal impacts of the grant on student outcomes and institutional finances.