During the 2017-2018 school year, students in Arizona missed out on $65 million in free federal financial aid. The Be a Leader Foundation counsels first-generation and low-income students - during the inaugural year of the program, Be a Leader saw a 26 percent increase in students who filled out the FAFSA form.

Cincinnati is making efforts to close the achievement gap between poor children and more advantaged students by fighting the effects of poverty. Lower Price Hill’s Oyler School is part of a growing national movement to help poor children succeed by meeting their basic health, social, and nutritional needs at school.

University of California schools pair first-generation professors with first-generation students. The mentoring program aims to increase the 40 percent college completion rate for first-generation students nationwide.

A Baltimore nonprofit uses arts programming to engage students in educational activities over the summer to combat learning loss. The director of differentiated learning for the district explains, "They don't even realize we're doing math and literacy instruction because we're having so much fun." Program administrators believe models like this are important in decreasing the persistent achievement gap.