Georgia State University’s National Institute for Student Success (NISS) has received a $2 million grant from Ascendium Education Group that will enable the institute to provide its services to six Georgia colleges and universities, helping them identify and resolve institutional barriers to equity and college completion.

The Ascendium grant will allow the NISS to work with a diverse cohort of higher-ed institutions to complete extensive diagnostics, identify high-impact practices and provide coaching and implementation support. The NISS will guide these partner institutions with structured support to help campus leaders and practitioners implement effective student success programs while providing expert coaching to ensure efforts are aligned with each institution’s strategic goals.

“We’re incredibly grateful for Ascendium’s generous support and partnership and appreciate their commitment to the NISS’s mission of reducing barriers to student achievement,” said Timothy Renick, founding executive director of the National Institute for Student Success. “This grant will enable the NISS to meaningfully expand its support of higher education in Georgia, increasing enrollments and improving graduation rates across the state’s postsecondary institutions.”

The NISS was established as a nonprofit institute within Georgia State in 2020 in response to the growing demand from higher education institutions for help and guidance in establishing systems, practices and cultures that could produce results that mirrored GSU’s remarkable gains in student retention, achievement and degree completion. To date, the NISS has worked with and disseminated its evidence-based practices to more than 80 higher education institutions across the U.S., helping them positively change outcomes for all students, especially the most vulnerable.

Ascendium Education Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to helping people achieve their academic and career goals. Its national philanthropy focuses on increasing opportunities for learners from low-income backgrounds to achieve upward mobility through high-quality learning after high school. Through its grants, it explores innovative ideas, validates promising practices, and scales successful solutions that advance meaningful, systemic change. To learn more, visit ascendiumphilanthropy.org.

Learn more about the NISS’s mission and services at niss.gsu.edu. See some of the many ways donor support is making a meaningful difference at Georgia State at giving.gsu.edu.