Doubling Student Success: Emergency Aid at Compton College

At Compton College, a community college in Los Angeles, California, students struggled with basic needs like food and shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A cohort of 289 students applied for $250 emergency grants, funded by the federal HEERF program, starting in May 2020, and ninety-two of them received aid through the Edquity (now Beam) platform.

Following up six months later, the impact was eye-opening: Grant recipients had higher rates of continuation than non-recipients with similar needs and, as a group, the grant recipients were twice as likely (22% versus 11%) to cross the finish line and earn credentials by the end of the academic year.

Details of the study

How:

• Grants were distributed to recipients using a proprietary decision framework developed by Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab, then Edquity’s Chief Strategy Officer for Emergency Aid, to assess their need.
• The vast majority of grant recipients were able to apply for and receive funds in less than 48 hours.

Who:

• At Compton College, 85% of students are Black or Latinx and 90% receive financial aid.
• The funded students were selected through a needs assessment, a verification process and a random element to distribute limited funds.
• Economist Drew Anderson, who has led several rigorous independent evaluations of financial aid, conducted the analysis.

What’s Next:

Edquity/Beam’s approach works 24/7 to assess need and distribute funds efficiently and equitably. And Scholarship America, the nation’s largest designer and administrator of scholarship programs, is proud to be partnering with Beam to expand the reach, impact and accessibility of emergency aid for students in need.

Download a PDF case study >>