ASPIRE Act/KIDS Accounts

Today, the Asset Building Program and the Center for Social Development at the Washington University in St. Louis released the final report in the “Creating a Financial Stake in College” series. The fourth report “Ideas for Refining Children’s Savings Account Proposals” makes a case for establishing formal mechanisms for low- and middle-income children to save. Author William Elliott argues that a systematic, national approach to children’s savings accounts is a critical part of improving access to postsecondary education, particularly for low- and middle-income students.

“Creating a Financial Stake in College” is a four-part series of reports that focuses on the relationship between children’s savings and improving college success. This series examines: (1) why policymakers should care about savings, (2) the relationship between inequality and bank account ownership, (3) the connections between savings and college attendance, and (4) recommendations to refine children’s savings account proposals.

The Asset Building News Week is a weekly Friday feature on the The Ladder, the Asset Building Program blog, designed to help readers keep up with news and developments in the asset building field. This week's topics include taxes, the housing crisis, prepaid cards, public benefits reform, prize linked savings, economic mobility and inequality, and education.

The third report in the Creating a Financial Stake in College series is being released today. In “We Save, We Go to College,” William Elliott looks at the factors contributing to a child being “on course” (enrolled in or have graduated from a two- or four-year college by age 23) or experiencing “wilt,” a phenomenon that describes children who had aspirations to attend college when in high school but are not enrolled after graduating from high school.

“Creating a Financial Stake in College” is a four-part series of reports that focuses on the relationship between children’s savings and improving college success. This series examines: (1) why policymakers should care about savings, (2) the relationship between inequality and bank account ownership, (3) the connections between savings and college attendance, and (4) recommendations to refine children’s savings account proposals.

As we announced last week, the Asset Building Program and the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis are co-releasing a series of reports, Creating a Financial Stake in College, by William Elliott III on the importance of children's savings and college outcomes. The second report in the series is being released today and is available for download here. The press release from last week is also available here.

“Creating a Financial Stake in College” is a four-part series of reports that focuses on the relationship between children’s savings and improving college success. This series examines: (1) why policymakers should care about savings, (2) the relationship between inequality and bank account ownership, (3) the connections between savings and college attendance, and (4) recommendations to refine children’s savings account proposals.

The Asset Building Program and the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis (CSD) are pleased to publish a series of reports collectively titled "Creating a Financial Stake in College." Authored by William Elliott III, professor at University of Kansas School of Social Welfare, the four-part series focuses on the relationship between children's savings and improving college success.

If you live or work in the Washington, D.C. / Virginia / Maryland area and are interested in asset-building, you are in for a treat. During January 11-15, 2012, approximately 20 individual research papers and posters focusing on asset-building research will be presented at the annual conference of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR). This research is the latest and greatest from some of the leading researchers in the asset-building field, including Gina Chowa, Michal Grinstein-Weiss, Vernon Loke, Jin Huang, and Youngmi Kim. Topics include savings at tax time, financial capability of youth in international settings, home ownership and housing stability, and debt and asset accumulation. The conference will be held at the Grand Hyatt Washington. Presentations that are "don't miss" are listed below. Click on the number at the end of the titled presentation for a direct link to the complete abstract.