CollegeBound Boost
CollegeBound Boost is a City of Saint Paul demonstration project, led by the Office of Financial Empowerment, that combined guaranteed income with children's savings account deposits for families enrolled in CollegeBound Saint Paul. Announced June 29, 2022 by Mayor Melvin Carter, it gave 333 randomly selected low-income families $500 per month in unconditional cash for 24 months plus a $1,000 deposit into their child's CollegeBound Saint Paul account. It was funded by $4 million in American Rescue Plan Act dollars and $1 million in philanthropic funds. It builds on the City's earlier People's Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot (2020-2022) and is being evaluated by University of Michigan researcher Dr. William Elliott.
Guaranteed Income, Children's Savings Account, College Savings, CollegeBound Saint Paul, Randomized Controlled Trial, Asset Building
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- City of Saint Paul, Office of Financial Empowerment
- City
- Saint Paul
- State / Province
- Minnesota
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Phone
- +1 651 266 8829
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 333
- Funding type
- Government, Philanthropic, Research Pilot
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 12,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 500 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 24 months
- Distribution Type
- Debit Card
- Benefit details
Selected families received $500 per month in unconditional cash for 24 months, distributed via prepaid debit card (the City's guaranteed income programs have used U.S. Bank ReliaCard prepaid debit distribution). In addition, $1,000 was deposited into the child's CollegeBound Saint Paul college savings account. Eligible families were randomly assigned to one of three groups: guaranteed income plus $1,000 CSA deposit; $1,000 CSA deposit only; or standard CollegeBound Saint Paul enrollment with $50 seed deposit and bonus deposit opportunities. Total direct cash value for the guaranteed income group was up to $12,000 over the course of the program, separate from the $1,000 CSA deposit.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Eligible participants were the parent or guardian of a CollegeBound Saint Paul beneficiary (a child born to a Saint Paul resident on or after January 1, 2020), were current residents of Saint Paul, and had household income at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Level (about $83,250 for a family of four at the time). Participants were randomly selected from eligible CollegeBound Saint Paul enrollees; there was no open general-public application. Enrollment closed as of July 7, 2023.
Family
- Family Status
- Parent
- Number of dependents (minimum)
- 1
Financial
- Income limit (annual household)
- $83,250
- Income as % of Federal Poverty Level
- 300 %
Geography
- US states covered
- Minnesota
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- Saint Paul
- Counties covered
- Ramsey
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Required
- Complementary program enrollment required
- CollegeBound Saint Paul (children's savings account program)
- Research / participation requirements
The Saint Paul Office of Financial Empowerment partnered with the University of Michigan School of Social Work, under Professor William Elliott (director of the Center for Assets, Education, and Inclusion), to design and evaluate CollegeBound Boost. The study used a randomized, three-arm design to examine the combined impacts of guaranteed income and asset-building (children's savings accounts) on family financial well-being, stress, and children's future educational expectations/outcomes. (Note: the City's earlier, separate People's Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot was evaluated by the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Guaranteed Income Research, not University of Michigan; CollegeBound Boost specifically is the University of Michigan-evaluated program, consistent with the seed data.)
Application Process
- How to apply
There was no general public application; eligible CollegeBound Saint Paul enrollees (parents/guardians of children born to Saint Paul residents on or after Jan. 1, 2020) meeting the income and residency criteria were identified from the CollegeBound Saint Paul database and randomly selected by the Office of Financial Empowerment starting summer 2022. Outreach efforts (e.g., via community partners like CAPRW) encouraged eligible enrolled families to confirm/verify eligibility so they could be entered into the random selection pool before enrollment closed July 7, 2023.
- Selection process
Families already enrolled in CollegeBound Saint Paul who met the income (at/below 300% FPL) and Saint Paul residency requirements were randomly selected, using the same lottery-style random-selection method used for the City's earlier People's Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot, and were randomly assigned to one of three study arms (guaranteed income + CSA boost, CSA boost only, or standard CollegeBound track) as part of the University of Michigan research design.
