Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Fiscal Year 2022 Research Funding Hits Record High

ATLANTA — Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (AYSPS) faculty and research centers reported a record year for grants raised in fiscal year 2022, earning nearly $38 million in research funding with the Georgia Health Policy Center’s record $28.5 million in grants leading the way.

AYSPS played a large role in helping Georgia State break its record for research funding in fiscal year 2022, raising more than any other college during the year and nearly a quarter of the university’s $164.2 million raised.

This year’s record in AYSPS surpasses its previous high of $27.4 million set in fiscal year 2019 and is nearly $10.6 million more than fiscal year 2021’s total. In the past five years, externally funded research activity at the college has climbed 67 percent.

“The need for evidence-grounded decision-making has never been so urgent,” Dean Sally Wallace said. “These numbers reflect how well the expertise of our faculty and research associates aligns with the deep desire by policymakers and other key decision-makers to better understand and find solutions to the many challenges our communities face today.”

AYSPS’ grant portfolio is diverse, with funding from a variety of sources including federal, state and local governments, foundations and others.

Among the college’s 42 grant recipients during this period, 10 brought in from $500,000 to more than $1 million each. More than 57 percent are women.

More than 170 AYSPS faculty and research associates are supported by research administrative staff and business managers.

“As we recognize our record year, we must acknowledge the critical contributions these staff members make toward successfully securing these grant awards,” said Ann-Margaret Esnard, associate dean for research and faculty affairs. “It’s a team effort, and we’ve got the winningest team on campus.”

Researchers from the Andrew Young School engage in fundamental and practical research with interdisciplinary teams at Georgia State and beyond. The impact of their work is wide-ranging, as it addresses pressing societal issues and plays a critical role in shaping the policies and initiatives of state and local government agencies.

A small sample of this work includes understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on K-12 education; evaluating items ranging from tax and budget policies to the effect of e-cigarette policies on youth tobacco use; helping to build capacity and quality in child and family welfare providers; strengthening economic and environmental resilience and sustainability within communities; and improving outcomes for those in the criminal justice system and social justice arena. In the health policy area, AYSPS researchers are promoting collaborations to improve public health financing, community health and total health system transformations.

Georgia State is one of 115 public and private universities in the Carnegie Foundation’s elite category of R1: Highest Research Activity. For the past four years, the university has been the highest-ranked institution without an engineering, medical or agricultural school in the National Science Foundation’s Higher Education Research and Development survey, a nationally recognized barometer of university research activity.

As one of the most diverse institutions in the country, Georgia State is uniquely positioned to address complex societal problems through a lens of equity and access. Georgia State is the only comprehensive Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) with R1 Carnegie Research Classification in the nation.