Perimeter College: U.S. Department Of Education Awards $3 Million Aimed At Student Math Success For Perimeter African American Males

Press release from Perimeter College:

September 29, 2021

DECATUR — Georgia State University’s Perimeter College has been awarded a $3 million U.S. Department of Education Predominately Black Institution (PBI) grant to help improve math success and pass rates for Black and African American male students.

Called “Innovative Mentoring Plus Academic Success Coaching Transforms to Success” (IMPACTS), the five-year mathematics project targets African American males enrolled in introductory mathematics courses at Perimeter College. It combines academic advising, mentoring and provides wraparound services for “non-cognitive” outside factors that can deter academic success, like stress and food insecurity, said Dr. John King, Perimeter College interim mathematics chair. King is principal investigator for the grant.

The introductory classes include Quantitative Reasoning, Elementary Statistics, College Algebra and Precalculus.

“These mathematics courses are required for every degree pathway at Perimeter, so every African American male enrolled at the college is likely to learn about the IMPACTS project through their math courses,” said King. “Success in these prerequisite courses impacts the number of African American male students who pursue STEM pathways, graduate from college and enter into STEM careers.

“The outcomes of Perimeter’s previous PBI grants significantly improved the successful completion rates and retention rates of African American students, and notably African American males, in remedial mathematics over the past six years,” said King. “Project IMPACTS builds on and expands the success and services of those grants.”

Dr. John King
Associate Professor, Mathematics
Interim mathematics department chair

John King is the principal investigator for the Predominately Black Institution (PBI) grant, Project RAISE, and the new $3 million PBI grant, Project IMPACTS. He is an associate professor mathematics and the interim chair of the department of mathematics at Perimeter College.

This press release was produced by Perimeter College. The views expressed are the author's own.