Project Status: Implementation

Eliminate small but consequential financial barriers that prevent Portland State students from persisting or completing their degrees. Modeled on Georgia State University’s successful completion grant program, this initiative combines completion grants for near-graduates with microgrants for students facing one-time financial challenges to paying tuition and fees.

Core Goal: Increase persistence, reduce stop-outs, and improve degree completion—especially for Pell-eligible, first-generation, parenting, and working students.

Target Population: Undergraduates in their final term at PSU with an outstanding balance; includes Seniors with 150+ credits completed and who have reached or are close to their federal aid limit.

Accomplished

  • Formed a project group
  • Charter approval
  • Set up the fund in Scholarship Universe
  • Four students were awarded at the end of Winter 2026
  • Average winter award amount: $2,305.50

In Progress

  • Eligible students for Spring awards have been identified and are in the process of having their awards disbursed.

Project Health

  • Foundation funds are reliant on donors; at this time, funding is not stable, so awarding pools will likely be small until donations become larger or more frequent.

Project Team

Sponsor: Randi Harris
Project Lead: Ari Douangpanya
Project Manager: Beth Harris
Project Team: Ilka Bailey, Matt Knauss, Jennifer Bell, Noah Syverson, Megan Looney (ad hoc), Academic Advisor (to be added in a future term), Shelby Danzer (PSUF)