Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Breaks Annual Research Funding Record

ATLANTA — Research funding in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (AYSPS) grew by 40.3 percent year-over-year, setting a new record of $53.2 million in total awards for fiscal year 2023. The college contributed nearly a quarter (24 percent) of Georgia State University’s record $224.72 million in grants earned in FY23.

“Creating and communicating new knowledge for the public good is at the heart of a research university’s mission,” Georgia State President M. Brian Blake said of Georgia State’s third consecutive record-breaking year. “I take great pride in knowing these outstanding levels of grant support will allow us to improve the human condition and answer critical questions in our global society.”

Research funding grew in nine of the Andrew Young School’s five academic units and seven research centers, with six centers and units receiving funding of $1 million or more for projects. More than 30 AYSPS researchers generated awards of over $200,000 each during the fiscal year.

The Economics Department and Georgia Policy Labs led in year-to-year percentage growth at 245.3 percent and 127.6 percent, respectively, while the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC) with $39.5 million raised and the School of Social Work with $4 million raised led the college in overall dollars awarded. GHPC generated 74 percent of the AYSPS total, another record-breaking year for the center.

“I am just so proud of our faculty, staff and student researchers and administrators who have made this record year possible,” said AYSPS Interim Dean Ann-Margaret Esnard. “Our unique mix of academic units and interdisciplinary research institutes and centers allows us to advance evidence-based research while addressing pressing policy and societal challenges that make profound and impactful contributions at national, regional and local levels.”

The year’s grants will enable AYSPS faculty and researchers to:

• Improve education policy while examining the effects of remote instructional delivery and recovery strategies on student outcomes in grades K–12, and understand the impacts of the Technical College System of Georgia’s eCampus initiative for rural learners and the role Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers play in student outcomes across four states.
• Grow school-based mental health services and the children’s behavioral health workforce in Georgia.
• Improve health policy with evaluations of the impact of eliminating health insurance cost-sharing on cancer prevention and early detection services offered by private health insurance plans, as well as the effects of e-cigarette policies on youth tobacco use.
• Improve the accuracy of climate impact models.
• Understand the relationship between merit-based scholarships and new business formation in Georgia.
• Help facilitate the reintegration of former offenders into communities and reduce recidivism, as well as establish a literary journal written by, for and with the incarcerated community.

“One of the things that makes Georgia State so unique is the breadth of our research endeavors,” said Tim Denning, the university’s vice president for research and economic development. “With a broad range of experts at work in every part of the university, we have the opportunity for an equally broad range of impacts. These investments allow us to continue to transform lives and communities for the better.”

Georgia State is the largest public research university in Georgia, and one of only four schools in the state with an R1 designation from the Carnegie Foundation, an honor reserved for the nation’s most active research institutions. Outgoing research expenditures have topped $1 billion in the last five years, and Georgia State is the No. 5 fastest-growing research institution in the U.S., according to the Higher Education Research and Development Survey, 2023.

For more information about Georgia State research and its impact, visit research.gsu.edu.