With the generous support of the Scheidel Foundation, the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) has been studying community-based organization (CBO) and higher education institution partnerships.
The fourth installment in our series of CBO+ higher education institution case studies, it is our hope that these resources will help our members and external partners form and maintain meaningful partnerships and increase positive postsecondary outcomes for all students.
Spelman College was one of Achieve Atlanta’s five original institutional partners in 2016. Savannah State University and Albany State University’s partnerships began in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
Overview
Since their founding in 2015, in partnership with Atlanta Public Schools (APS), Achieve Atlanta is on a mission to help APS students access, afford, and complete a postsecondary credential. 94% of Achieve Atlanta students identity as Black or Latino, and 96% are Pell grant eligible.
Through partnerships with the College Advising Corps (CAC) and OneGoal, Achieve Atlanta provides college search and college and financial aid applications support to students during the school day. Their scholarship offers APS graduates who have been
continuously enrolled since the 11th grade, have at least a 2.0 GPA, and meet the Federal Student Aid Index’s financial need requirements a renewable $5,000 award per year for four years for eligible bachelor’s programs and $1,500 award per year for
two years for eligible associate or technical programs.
Deliverables
Achieve Atlanta has embedded FERPA release forms into their scholarship application so that they can receive student level data. Some partners will accept this FERPA form method; other partners require their own form.
The organization has partnered with Scholarship America to provide both emergency grants of up to $500 per year for needs like transportation or medical expenses, and completion grants of up
to $2,500 per term for students who have exhausted their Achieve Atlanta scholarship but are within two terms of graduating.
The organization's “cascading leadership model” requires entrenched and demonstrated commitment from their in-state institutional partners. These multi-level relationships, from the president’s office to direct student-facing staff, are codified at the
institutional level into the Campus Support Team.
Over the summer, student enrollment is supported by Achieve Atlanta’s Summer Squad. These interns, many of whom were CAC Advisors within APS, help students navigate the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), admissions, housing, and other enrollment
barriers. The College Success team manages the paid upperclassmen Campus Ambassadors over the summer, connecting freshmen to campus resources including their advisors and community building tools.
By facilitating the campus resource connection, Achieve Atlanta lessens students’ desire to reach back to familiar high school supports over time. Staff meet with the Campus Support Teams and Campus Liaisons each term and over the summer to monitor student
progress and implement action plans in case management meetings. Achieve Atlanta’s President and Executive Director and College Success staff also support campus events year-round to build community and reinforce the slogan that Achieve Atlanta is
“more than a scholarship.” At some partner institutions, faculty often serve as mentors to students, pairing them with faculty in their respective fields. This model ensures that students fully engage with the supports in their new environment.
These Campus Ambassadors are screened and hired by both Achieve Atlanta and the institution in the spring. Campus staff and the ambassadors participate in summer orientation. Ambassadors develop campus resource guides and plan quarterly persistence events.
Per the MOU, ambassadors are managed and paid over the summer by Achieve Atlanta. In August, Ambassadors are managed the institution’s Campus Support Team and paid through federal work study or campus employment programs as stipulated in the MOU.
At Albany State, students are placed in learning communities to establish study groups and provide opportunities for social connection. At other institutions, the Campus Support Team connects to resources like residence life to ensure Scholars are engaging
early and often. In one specific case, a resident assistant began taking their floor to the organization fair to sign up for clubs and activities.
Renewal and Evaluation
Achieve Atlanta receives data from the district and the CAC Advisors to perform a persistence likelihood analysis to determine incoming Scholars’ readiness for college and highlight additional supports they may need to succeed before midterm exams in
their first term.
Students are surveyed when they enroll and at the end of each term when they renew their scholarship. The survey inquires about the effectiveness of social supports, the presence of a growth mindset and resilience, sense of belonging, how many hours students
work or study, and their campus living status. Students can also disclose basic needs insecurity like transportation, housing. Tying the survey to the scholarship application took their response rate from ~30% to ~98%. Once the persistence likelihood
rating is shared, the survey data is shared with the respective institutional partners every term so that incoming Scholars receive the appropriate interventions based on their scores.
Both Achieve Atlanta and their partners share Tableau licenses to triage active student caseloads. The organization meets with postsecondary partners year-round to share organizational updates, support student case management and strategize toward persistence
and completion goals. An annual partnership evaluation is completed to determine the focus partnership areas for improvement. These meetings include representatives in critical student-facing offices including campus advising, enrollment services
and student success.
Achieve Atlanta holds partner learning forums with all institutional and nonprofit partners who serve their Scholars. “Sharing macro-level data and creating the environment to share and learn about successful practices and collective challenges, strengthens
the program overall, places the student at the center, and deepens relationships across the ecosystem,” Diggs-Wilborn said.
Maintaining Institution Partnerships
Achieve Atlanta’s cascading leadership model ensures continuity of service by requiring that institutional staff at levels below and above the departing person commit to keeping organizational abreast of staffing developments.
Achieve Atlanta writes transition procedures into its MOUs. When possible, a simultaneous off-boarding meeting with the departing person and an onboarding meeting with the new person are held.
Institutional Impact
Institutions value the direct line to work with their prospective students through Achieve Atlanta's data sharing agreement with Atlanta Public Schools for workshops, information sessions, and other resource sharing opportunities beyond the traditional
college fair.
Because of the support they provide, as of 2023, 77% of Achieve Atlanta Scholars advanced to their sophomore year, 62% to junior year, and 52% to senior year,
compared to 67%, 51% and 44% of non-supported peers, respectively. “Achieve Atlanta serves as a learning collaborative where our partner institutions can deepen their understanding of persistence barriers and success factors and then take those learnings
and scale them to address the larger Pell-eligible populations at their institutions,” Diggs-Wilborn said.
Lessons Learned
Alumni can be your biggest advocates. “We made connections with people who went to Atlanta Public Schools. They have the passion for forming these partnerships,” Diggs-Wilborn said.
You still need to choose your players wisely in a cascading leadership model. “Our goal is to look for someone with the passion and the power to make a change, to reduce barriers on campus, and get the work done,” she said.
Customize your partnership model to each institution. Is your prospective partner institution resource rich and relationship poor? An institution that characterizes themselves as relationship rich but resource poor will require a different approach.
“Framing asks in a way that’s honest and direct but also polite was a learning curve. Secondary and postsecondary cultures are very different navigating seldom-tread territory between and within functional areas that have been traditionally siloed.
We become that connective student-centric tissue who finds common ground and leverage that to set partner goals and achieve persistence targets. I’ve also learned the ability to talk about what’s going wrong without placing blame,” she said.
Email to a Friend