MGA Gets Federal Grant to Strengthen Student Success and Degree Completion
Author: News Bureau
Posted: Wednesday, October 7, 2026 12:00 AM
Category:
Pressroom
Macon, GA
Middle Georgia State University (MGA) has been awarded a nearly $3 million federal grant that will bolster student success, retention, and degree completion.
The initiative, called COMPASS (College Opportunity, Mentorship, Persistence, Access, Support, and Success), will strengthen the University’s capacity to help students navigate college successfully from enrollment through graduation. The Title III funding will support expanded advising and student-success services, residential learning initiatives, faculty development, technology-supported student outreach, and new resources for students facing financial barriers.
COMPASS aligns with MGA’s Path to Knighthood program, a University-wide student success effort named for the University’s mascot and is designed to help students make progress toward graduation and prepare for their careers. By strengthening the support students receive throughout their college experience, the initiative will help MGA create more pathways to degree completion and into the workforce.
“Through our Path to Knighthood initiative, MGA is focused on helping students succeed at every stage of their higher education journey,” said Dr. Christopher Blake, MGA president. “The COMPASS initiative will help us build on that commitment by strengthening the advising, teaching, and support systems students need to stay on track, complete their degrees, and prepare for what comes next.”
Through COMPASS, the University will continue developing coordinated, holistic student support. MGA plans to improve advising tools and student success technology to identify students who may need additional assistance and connect them with appropriate resources earlier. The project will also support living-learning communities and expand residential student success programming on the University’s Macon and Cochran campuses.
The multi-million-dollar grant will invest in faculty, too. A newly developed Student Success Summer Institute will give faculty opportunities to strengthen evidence-based teaching practices, redesign courses, and explore effective uses of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to support student learning and engagement.
The grant also includes an investment designed to benefit MGA students well beyond the five-year project period. Title III funding will provide $180,000 toward the creation of an endowment for student support. With a required dollar-for-dollar nonfederal match, MGA plans to establish a $360,000 endowment to assist students who encounter financial barriers that could otherwise interrupt or prevent completion of their degrees.
“I like to say we focus on every Knight, every day. This award gives MGA an opportunity to strengthen our long-term investments in the systems, people, and resources that help students persist and succeed,” said Dr. David Jenks, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, who oversees the grant with Donna Balding, dean of the Graduate School. “The focus is very holistic, helping them help themselves, find balance in their studies, remain engaged, make steady academic progress, and ultimately complete a degree and get a job in the region.”
The federal grant is particularly significant for MGA because of the University’s role in serving students throughout the region, including students from rural communities and those with significant financial need. The project is intended to benefit not only students and their families but also employers and communities that depend on a well-prepared, college-educated workforce.