BOOST (Building Outstanding Opportunities for Students to Thrive)
BOOST is a guaranteed basic income pilot run by the Foundation for the Los Angeles Community Colleges (the philanthropic partner of LACCD) that gave 251 students at four LACCD colleges $1,000 a month, unconditionally, for 12 months to help them stay in and complete health-career coursework. It was funded by more than $4 million in private philanthropy, chiefly the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Foundation's Young Adults Forward Fund (with the California Community Foundation), plus the ECMC Foundation and Weingart Foundation. Payments ran November 2024 through October 2025 via debit cards, alongside a randomized controlled trial led by the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Guaranteed Income Research. It is described as the largest GBI program for community college students in the U.S. to date and the first to include an RCT at this scale. The pilot has concluded and the Foundation is now seeking funding for a second cohort ('BOOST 2.0').
Guaranteed Basic Income, Community College Students, Health Careers, Randomized Controlled Trial, Largest GBI Program for Community College Students in the US
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- Foundation for the Los Angeles Community Colleges
- City
- Los Angeles
- State / Province
- California
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Phone
- +1 213-891-2376
- BOOST@laccd.edu
- Social media links
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 251
- Funding type
- Philanthropic, Research Pilot
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 12,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 1,000 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 12 months
- Distribution Type
- Debit Card
- Benefit details
Participants received $1,000/month for 12 months (total $12,000), loaded onto a debit card issued by program partner MoCaFi; funds did not expire and rolled over month to month. Payments were unrestricted and could be spent on anything. The pilot used a randomized controlled trial design: 251 students received payments (treatment group) while a control group of about 370 eligible non-selected applicants received none. Program dates ran November 2024 through October 2025, with first payments issued November 25, 2024 and monthly payments thereafter on the 15th of each month.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Applicants had to be enrolled at least half-time (6+ units) at East LA College, LA City College, LA Trade-Technical College, or LA Southwest College, have completed at least 12 units, and have a declared major/academic plan tied to a health-related career (health sciences, allied/clinical health care, behavioral health, public/community health, or health and human services) with an anticipated completion no earlier than June 2025. Applicants could not already hold a Bachelor's or graduate degree, and had to demonstrate financial need (income impacted ability to afford college/living costs and household income at or below HUD's Low Income Level for LA County, up to $146,500 for an 8-person household). Applicants had to be a U.S. citizen, eligible non-citizen, or exempt from nonresident tuition under AB 540, and could not be enrolled in Hire UP or another guaranteed income program. Selection into the paid (treatment) group vs. a non-paid control group was determined via random assignment as part of the RCT.
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 18
- Education level
- Associate
- Language
- English, Spanish
Financial
- Income limit (annual household)
- $146,500
Citizenship
- Citizenship / immigration status
- Citizen, Permanent Resident, DACA, Undocumented
Geography
- US states covered
- California
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- Los Angeles
- Counties covered
- Los Angeles County
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Required
- Research / participation requirements
The program is evaluated via a mixed-methods randomized controlled trial led by the Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR) at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy & Practice. Treatment-group participants were required to complete online surveys over roughly 18 months and some were invited to additional interviews. As of mid-2026 an interim report was anticipated around May 2026 and the final report around May 2027 (not yet published as of this research), because researchers are tracking outcomes for six months after payments ended in addition to the 12-month payment period.
Application Process
- How to apply
Students applied online during a defined application window via the program's dedicated site (boostla.org); the application period closed after the single pilot cohort was selected in fall 2024, and as of this research the site displays 'The Application has closed' with no active or rolling enrollment.
- Selection process
Eligible applicants (meeting enrollment, major, need, and citizenship criteria) were randomly assigned by the research team either to a treatment group of 251 students who received the monthly payments, or to a control group of roughly 370 students who did not, as part of the University of Pennsylvania-led randomized controlled trial.
