A recent report from National College Attainment Network (NCAN) member Prosperity Now, in partnership with Abt Associates, explores how Child Savings Account (CSA) programs are working to support Black and Latine students with postsecondary
access and college completion, and highlights opportunities for CSAs to deepen their impact. CSAs, which have emerged across the country in recent years, combine long-term savings and investment accounts with other supports to increase college enrollment
and affordability, particularly for students from low-income backgrounds. The report focuses on how programs can support Black and Latine students, specifically – filling an existing gap in research on CSAS. It finds that:
CSAs increase how long students and families are exposed to college access interventions, and
Serve as linchpins in communities, helping to unite partner organizations working to advance postsecondary access and affordability.
The report also identifies strategies for improving targeted support for Black and Latine students to help them get to and through college. These strategies include:
Developing a comprehensive continuum of post-secondary education access and completion services
Providing targeted equity contributions for Black and Latine students from families with low household wealth
Assessing existing program contributions with an equity lens
Developing targeted outreach and engagement strategies for Black and Latine students
Creating feedback loops with Black and Latine participants to gather feedback surrounding how to better support families
The exploratory research from Prosperity Now employs a race-equity lens and case study analysis to understand how various CSA programs are navigating the unique barriers faced by Black and Latine participants. When it comes to college access and success,
CSA programs recognize a limited, “sphere of influence within which they theorize they can reduce barriers” faced by Black and Latine students in attaining a college degree. Because of this, many programs focus on fostering college aspirations from
a young age and addressing smaller need gaps left by students’ financial aid packages. In the report, several findings speak to why CSA programs may be effective as a college access and attainment strategy.
CSAs are notably valuable as they can provide a foundation for strategically convening partner organizations in supporting Black and Latine students’ college access and economic mobility goals. Through partnership with a number of local
organizations all focused on improving postsecondary attainment and affordability, the Lansing SAVE CSA program helped solidify a local college access network (NCAN member CapCAN) and advance a shared
vision for economic support of Lansing, MI-area families from kindergarten through college (known as BOLD Lansing).
Additionally, CSA programs, “increase how long students are exposed to college access interventions.” While many postsecondary planning initiatives begin in ninth grade, CSA programs often begin conversations about college much earlier.
Boston Saves, Lansing SAVE, and Oakland Promise programs enroll participants when they are in kindergarten, lengthening both students’ and families’ exposure to discussions about college and careers.
Other key takeaways in the research address challenges with targeting support for Black and Latine student populations and the need for better data to conduct stronger program evaluation. For example, the case studies highlighted that
“programs were largely not targeting financial resources based on participants’ race,” but instead, using low-income status as a proxy. While many low-income households served by CSAs included Black and Latine families, this approach means that inevitably,
“some of the challenges faced specifically by Black and Latine students may go unaddressed.”
The report features four geographically diverse programs, including two NCAN members:
Boston Saves, in Massachusetts, enrolls Boston Public School kindergarteners in CSAs automatically.
KC Scholars, an NCAN member in Kansas and Missouri, is an optional CSA program for Kansas City ninth graders from low-income families.
Lansing SAVE, in Michigan, automatically enrolls Lansing School District kindergartners.
Oakland Promise, an NCAN member in California, offers two CSA components—Brilliant Baby and Kindergarten to College. Brilliant Baby is an opt-in program for Medi-Cal eligible Oakland babies.
Kindergarten to College automatically enrolls kindergarteners in the Oakland Unified School District.
Although further research is necessary to evaluate the impact of the strategies elevated in the report, this research from Prosperity Now and Abt Associates offers a promising roadmap for how existing CSA programs might tailor their services to holistically
and effectively support Black and Latine students in obtaining their postsecondary and economic goals.
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