Using Pay for Success to Improve Student Attainment in Higher Education

Working with The Kresge Foundation and uAspire, a national provider of college affordability and financial aid counseling serving primarily low-income and first-generation students, Third Sector Capital Partners, Inc. (Third Sector) recently completed a pay for sucess feasibility assessment designed to evaluate the appropriateness of PFS for higher education, with a focus on improving student matriculation, persistence, and ultimately graduation. After speaking with almost two dozen stakeholders, Third Sector published this report featuring lessons for organizations interested in exploring how PFS may hold promise for achieving better outcomes for students pursuing postsecondary education. The paper outlines methods to ssess the feasibility of post-secondary PFS, important stakeholders needed to make a PFS project work, challenges to leveraging PFS in higher education, and actionable steps toward developing a PFS project to promote student success.