National Institute for Student Success Receives Grant from the Carol and Gene Ludwig Family Foundation

ATLANTA – The National Institute for Student Success (NISS) at Georgia State University received a grant from the Carol and Gene Ludwig Family Foundation to fund pilot programs of one of the university’s most successful initiatives, Keep Hope Alive, at three higher-ed institutions in Georgia, including two Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Through this grant, NISS will work with Albany State University, Fort Valley State University and Georgia Southern University to implement and administer a suite of wrap-around services that help students who have lost or are at risk of losing the Hope Scholarship remain in school, reach prescribed benchmarks to regain the scholarship and complete their degrees.

Through a systematic, data-driven and collaborative process, the NISS helps colleges and universities identify and find solutions for institutional barriers to equity and college completion. The Carol and Gene Ludwig Family Foundation grant will enable the NISS partner institutions to provide eligible students with modest financial support on the condition that they attend a suite of advising, academic and financial wellness supports.

“We thank the Carol and Gene Ludwig Family Foundation for its support and partnership and appreciate their commitment to NISS’s mission of reducing barriers to student achievement and degree completion in higher education,” said Timothy Renick, executive director of the National Institute for Student Success. “Financial barriers are the primary reason that students drop out or stop out at universities and are a major cause of equity gaps nationally. This grant will allow us to launch at several public universities in Georgia the NISS’s proven systems for producing equitable college outcomes.”

Established in 2002, the Carol and Gene Ludwig Family Foundation is a private foundation that makes charitable investments in support of medical research, education and communities. The Foundation’s grantmaking in education is primarily focused on empowering young people from low-income backgrounds to achieve their educational and professional goals.

“We are honored to partner with the NISS in its mission to improve college completion for all students,” said Dr. Carol Ludwig, co-founder and president of the Carol and Gene Ludwig Family Foundation. “We are incredibly excited about the potential for this innovative program to prove impactful and replicable far beyond this initial pilot.”

Explore how the Carol and Gene Ludwig Family Foundation supports medical research, enables access to educational and economic opportunities for young people and strengthens communities at ludwigfamilyfoundation.org.

Learn more about the NISS mission and services at niss.gsu.edu. See how donor support is making a meaningful difference at Georgia State and how to get involved at giving.gsu.edu