Dive Brief:

• Georgia State has boosted its graduation rate by 22 points in 10 years, despite shrinking state spending per student and a poorer student population.
• The university uses low-cost ways to give students more one-on-one attention, including peer tutoring programs and data analysis.
• Another big achievement: At Georgia State, students who receive need-based federal Pell Grants are as likely to graduate as those who don't.

Dive Insight:

The school is serious about helping students, with a peer tutoring program that boosted scores an average of half a letter grade. But it's also bringing big computing power to bear on the problem: It analyzed about 2 million grades and modeled how performance in one class might predict performance later. One impressive high-tech safety net: A Web-based tracking system that alerts advisers when students makes a choice that could put them off track for graduation.