ED Awards $7.6 Million Grant to Georgia State U and Partner Schools to Study AI Chatbots and Student Outcomes

  • By Kate Lucariello
  • 01/29/24

Georgia State University's (GSU) National Institute for Student Success (NISS) has received a $7.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education (ED)'s Postsecondary Student Success Program to study how chatbots affect student outcomes at GSU, its associate institution Perimeter College, and its partner schools, Morgan State University in Maryland, and the University of Central Florida.

The chatbots will be used in first-year math and English courses. The NISS grant will fund the establishment of text-based chatbots and support a team of scholars from Brown, Harvard, and Stanford universities, and the Brookings Institution to evaluate their success in helping to improve student math and English outcomes.

Tim Renick, NISS founder and project lead, said the goal is to provide personal and timely support to students in these courses, assisting the efforts of their educators. The bots will answer basic questions about course material, remind students of deadlines, and offer encouragement and tips. The project is based on previous studies that show AI-enhanced chatbots increase grades and retention rates among lower-income and first-generation students, according to NISS.

In 2016, GSU piloted the AI-enhanced chatbot, Pounce, to help reduce "summer melt," wherein students are accepted to college but fail to register for fall classes. Thanks to Pounce, which was accessed 185,000 times by incoming freshmen, that number dropped from 19% to 9%, according to Renick.

"Because of their schedules, students with jobs and families currently are less likely to attend after-class tutoring and study sessions," Renick said. "The chatbots we are developing can support students 24/7, answer questions after hours and keep students on track in these challenging courses."

To learn more about the grant and what the chatbot program hopes to accomplish, read GSU's announcement.

About the Author

Kate Lucariello is a former newspaper editor, EAST Lab high school teacher and college English teacher.

Featured

  • data professionals in a meeting

    Data Fluency as a Strategic Imperative

    As an institution's highest level of data capabilities, data fluency taps into the agency of technical experts who work together with top-level institutional leadership on issues of strategic importance.

  • stylized AI code and a neural network symbol, paired with glitching code and a red warning triangle

    New Anthropic AI Models Demonstrate Coding Prowess, Behavior Risks

    Anthropic has released Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4, its most advanced artificial intelligence models to date, boasting a significant leap in autonomous coding capabilities while simultaneously revealing troubling tendencies toward self-preservation that include attempted blackmail.

  • university building with classical architecture is partially overlaid by a glowing digital brain graphic

    NSF Invests $100 Million in National AI Research Institutes

    The National Science Foundation has announced a $100 million investment in National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes, part of a broader White House strategy to maintain American leadership as competition with China intensifies.

  • black analog alarm clock sits in front of a digital background featuring a glowing padlock symbol and cybersecurity icons

    The Clock Is Ticking: Higher Education's Big Push Toward CMMC Compliance

    With the United States Department of Defense's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification 2.0 framework entering Phase II on Dec. 16, 2025, institutions must develop a cybersecurity posture that's resilient, defensible, and flexible enough to keep up with an evolving threat landscape.