How do place-based scholarships affect student borrowing and academic outcomes? Lessons from Atlanta

November 2025

Previous research shows that Achieve Atlanta’s placed-based scholarship and associated services meaningfully improve college persistence and completion. In this follow up study that uses similar methods but additional and more detailed data, we examine whether scholarship recipients exhibit different student loan portfolios, course-taking patterns, or academic performance. Using regression analyses, we find that students in their first semester of college who receive the scholarship and associated services are less likely to take out loans, borrow lower amounts, earn more credit hours, and attain higher GPAs. Additionally, we find no evidence that the place-based scholarship crowds out institutional aid. These effects are important in their own right but also shed light on the mechanisms driving earlier findings on college success.

Keywords

Place-based scholarships, financial aid, student loans, higher education

Education level

Post-secondary education

Topics

Policy, Politics, and Governance