College progress identifies young adults who are “on course,” that is, those who are currently enrolled in, or who have a degree from, a two-year college or a four-year college. However, little is known about the impact of these factors on low-to-moderate-income (LMI) young adults. Findings suggest LMI young adults with school savings are two and half times more likely to be on course than LMI young adults without savings. Policies such as universal Child Development Accounts (CDAs) that can help adolescents accumulate savings may be a simple and effective strategy for helping to keep LMI young adults on course.
Project: College Success
Citation
Elliott, W., III, Constance-Huggins, M., & Song, H. (2011, June). Reducing the college progress gap between low- to moderate-income (LMI) and high-income (HI) young adults: Assets as an understudied form of economic capital (CSD Research Brief No. 11-16). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.