ATLANTA — The U.S. Department of Education is recognizing Georgia State University as an inspiration behind its inaugural Postsecondary Success Recognition Program (PSRP) and a catalyst for positive change nationally.
The program celebrates colleges and universities across the country that are doing the most to enroll underserved student populations, facilitate successful student transfers and completions, and equip graduates for careers that lead to economic mobility.
On Jan. 8, the department named six colleges and universities winners of its 2025 Postsecondary Success Recognition Program award.
The department also recognized Georgia State with its first-ever Trailblazer Award, citing the university’s success in increasing graduation rates through data-driven, evidence-based interventions and its impact on the field of student success nationally. The department noted that more than a dozen of the finalist institutions evaluated during the PSRP award selection process are partners with Georgia State’s National Institute for Student Success (NISS) — including one of the winners.
“We’re deeply honored to receive this recognition,” said Georgia State President M. Brian Blake. “It’s so emblematic of our innovation and commitment to advance access to higher education, foster student success and ensure meaningful outcomes beyond graduation.”
The NISS was established in 2020 to meet the growing demand from higher education institutions for help and guidance in implementing systems and practices that could produce results that mirrored GSU’s remarkable gains in student retention, achievement and degree completion.
“While GSU has long been recognized for its impressive improvement story, the Department is recognizing it with a special Trailblazer Award for the work it is doing to share the lessons learned through its National Institute for Student Success,” the Department of Education said in a statement. “Led by Tim Renick, NISS has already partnered with more than 100 institutions and several university systems collectively serving over a million students in the last three years. The results have been promising so far: increases in retention rates for the first cohort of schools working with the NISS were four times higher than the national average.”
The NISS provides diagnostic and implementation support to partner institutions for periods ranging from six months to three years.
“The success of the National Institute for Student Success shows that Georgia State’s data-based approaches to student success can help students from all backgrounds succeed, not just at Georgia State but at a wide-range of institutions, including HBCUs, community colleges and flagship universities,” said NISS Executive Director Timothy Renick.
The winners of the 2025 Postsecondary Success Recognition Program award are CUNY Hostos Community College in New York, Miami Dade College, Salish Kootenai College in Montana, San Jose State University, the University of Texas at Arlington and, a NISS partner, the University of South Carolina Upstate.