The Washington State Achievers scholarship program (WSA) is part of an initiative by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund and support 16 high schools in Washington State as they redesign themselves to increase academic achievement for all their students.  Each year for ten years (2001–2010), approximately 500 Achievers Scholars will be selected from among students who attend the 16 Achiever high schools.  The first Achievers Scholars were selected in the spring of 2001 and began attending college in the fall of that year.  Subsequent cohorts of approximately 500 students have begun or will begin attending college each fall thereafter.  To be selected, students must graduate from high school, demonstrate financial need, and apply for need-based financial aid at their colleges.

The key purpose of the Washington State Achievers Longitudinal Survey and Tracking Study is to measure the impact of the Achievers scholarship on the life outcomes of recipients compared to students who did not receive the scholarship.  These life outcomes include matriculation at a college/university, type of institution of higher education chosen, and whether the Achievers were able to reduce or eliminate the need to work outside of work-study awards at the college, as well as reduce or eliminate the need for student loans. 

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the College Success Foundation (CSF), the sponsors and administrators of the program, respectively, selected the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago to conduct the WSA study.  NORC will conduct data collection for a select set of cohorts at regular intervals during each cohort’s college and post-graduate years.

Additional information about the program and related publications can be found at: http://norc.gatesscholarsresearch.org.