Alabama Possible’s Alabama Goes to College Campaign provides FAFSA and college application completion supports to students across the state. Alabama Possible also provides poverty simulations which are designed to sensitize those who frequently support families living in poverty, as well as to create a broader awareness of the realities of poverty among policy-makers, business and community leaders, students, faculty, administrators, and more.
Alabama Possible is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation based in Birmingham, Alabama that was established in 1993 by a group of citizens who wanted to change the narrative on poverty in Alabama. The mission of Alabama Possible is to break down barriers to prosperity in Alabama through education, collaboration, and advocacy. Our scope of work includes postsecondary access, postsecondary success, advocacy, and civic engagement. Alabama Possible aligns its strategies and approaches to Alabama’s statewide goal of creating 500,000 individuals with valuable postsecondary credentials in 2025.
Alabama Possible does not subscribe to the theory of zip codes defining one’s destiny and works towards removing barriers to prosperity for all Alabamians, especially students of color, first-generation students, adult learners and students from under-resourced families. In our efforts to break the cycle of generational poverty in our state, our initiatives are primarily focused on making education equitable and creating pathways in preparing learners to take advantage of high-wage, high-demand careers in our state. This work includes advocacy at both the federal and state level; establishing state-wide networks in the college access and success areas; and providing initiatives that focus on student access and success.By acting as a catalyst and convener, Alabama Possible works with stakeholders throughout the state to set expectations, create conditions and policies, and align community and statewide resources to eradicate poverty.
Alabama Possible is known statewide and nationally for its advocacy work that led to the development of a statewide student-level dashboard that reports completion rates for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Our advocacy efforts also led to the passing of the opt-out FAFSA completion policy (Universal FAFSA) in 2021 as part of the high school senior graduation checklist. FAFSA completion for the class of 2022 and 2023 ranked Alabama 9th and 11th in the nation. For over thirteen years, Alabama Possible continues to produce the Breaking Barriers to Prosperity Data Sheet that is utilized by state and community leaders to guide decision-making and is a tool that informs our Break it Down Series of community engagement. The ultimate purpose of collecting data is to provide a basis for action or recommendation, and we use the data reported in the data sheet to engage the participants in defining and elevating the pain points in the data published about their community. Alabama Possible led the 2020 Census efforts to ensure all Alabamians were counted. The Higher Education Alliance, Alabama College Attainment Network, and Predominately Black Community College and Historically Black Community College Network are collaborative efforts where Alabama Possible serves as the convening and facilitating agency.
Alabama Possible has proven its commitment to collecting and producing tools to inform action and policy, engaging citizens in purpose-driven conversations, and developing best-practice initiatives.
