The Kresge Foundation in Troy, Michigan, has announced grants totaling $2.9 million to four South African universities and an institute for distance education to improve student success through improved data analysis.

Awarded through the foundation's Siyaphumelela (We Succeed) initiative, the four-year, $400,000 grants will enable Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, and the University of Pretoria to build their capacity to use and  integrate data into their programs and activities. In addition, the South African Institute for Distance Education in Johannesburg will receive support to act as the initiative's anchor institution and will facilitate data coaching by staff at other Siyaphumelela universities.

While enrollment at South African universities has doubled since the end of apartheid in 1994, graduation rates have remained low for black students. Since 2005, Kresge has invested more than $26.7 million in South African higher education.

"Universities across South Africa are grappling with how to improve persistence and graduation rates for their black students in particular," said Kresge Foundation president Rip Rapson. "These universities will work together with SAIDE to develop their data analytics capacity to find and share solutions and interventions based on solid information to improve student success."