The new American Talent Initiative (ATI), which was announced today, allows the country’s most respected public and private higher education institutions to share strategies to substantially increase the number of talented students from low- and moderate-income families who successfully complete college. The founding members seek to attract, enroll and graduate the most qualified students, regardless of family income. They will also contribute to research that will help other colleges graduate more high-achieving, lower-income students.

The initiative is supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies and was created with a national goal of educating 50,000 additional high-achieving, lower-income students at the 270 colleges and universities with the highest graduation rates by 2025.

For Georgia Tech, the new alliance builds on other initiatives improving college graduation rates, especially among underrepresented students. The Institute is the only public college in Georgia currently participating in this collaborative effort.

“Georgia Tech is proud to partner with the American Talent Initiative and looks forward to participating in this nationwide collaboration addressing access and affordability for some of the country’s best and brightest students,” President G.P. “Bud” Peterson said. “This initiative is entirely consistent with the state of Georgia’s efforts to increase the number of college graduates through the Complete College Georgia initiative. Through a sharing of ideas, both of these initiatives provide a great opportunity to impact the lives of many students across the state and maximize their potential.”

As a member of ATI, Georgia Tech committed to improvements in several areas. Goals include accomplishing the following by 2022:

• Engage in outreach and recruitment of low- and moderate-income students to STEM fields. Georgia Tech will work to increase the number of applicants from school districts and counties with a greater proportion of low- and moderate-income high school graduates. The Institute has seen success through a scholarship program with Atlanta Public Schools.
• Enroll more Pell eligible students. Some of these students would be eligible for scholarship programs to help them pay for college. For example, the G. Wayne Clough Georgia Tech Promise Program allows eligible Georgians to graduate from Georgia Tech debt free. It is for in-state students whose families have an annual income of less than $33,300.
• Increase Institute allocation to need-based aid by 30 percent from 2012 levels. In 2012, Georgia Tech awarded $11.5 million in need-based institutional aid.
• Decrease the gap found in retention and graduate rates between low-income students and the average student body. The goal is for retention rates and six-year graduate rates to be within three percentage points of the student body average.

“At Georgia Tech we seek to recruit the nation’s most talented students and an initiative like ATI helps improve college access,” said Director of Undergraduate Admission Rick Clark. “Improving socioeconomic diversity starts with outreach. For example, this spring we’ll mail a planning for college booklet to low-income sophomores and juniors that helps them think through their college choices, as well as other critical information on admission and financial aid resources.”

ATI expects to add more top-performing colleges every year to join Tech and the other founding members.

The Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program and Ithaka S+R, two not-for-profit organizations coordinating the initiative, will study the practices that lead to measureable progress and share those through regular publications.

“If we're serious about promoting social mobility in America, we need to ensure that every qualified high school student in the US has an opportunity to attend college,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and former mayor of New York City. “I'm so glad that so many great colleges and universities have stepped up today and committed themselves toward that goal. This is a vital first step toward creating a more meritocratic society."