New Strategies in Delivering Education IDAs: Rethinking Program Design

Overview & Synopsis

Study after study demonstrates that low-income students are severely underrepresented in higher education. In fact, the attendance rate of low-income students appears to be declining rather than growing. Individual Development Accounts or IDAs used for postsecondary education can help address the problem. With an IDA, youth can afford to enroll in college and adults can gain the necessary funds to remain in college. The asset building and education fields will benefit from a wider use of IDAs for education. However, this potential is unlikely to be reached unless the IDA field moves from the current program design, which is based on homeownership, to a unique program designed to meet the specific needs of education IDAs. Education IDAs need to break from the housing mold to be successful. One reason that the unique design components for education IDAs are unknown is that postsecondary stakeholders were left out of the IDA demonstration projects, research, and legislation. No document currently exists to help IDA practitioners develop a program design for education IDAs. This report highlights how to rethink one's program design when offering education IDAs and how to maximize such efforts by partnering with postsecondary institutions. Appended are: (1) Organization profiles; (2) Why is education important for your future and how can education IDAs help you reach your educational goals?; (3) Financial education resources for youth and adults; and (4) Education asset resources for IDA practitioners. (Contains 20 footnotes.) [This paper was written with Hannah Yang and Adrianna Kezar.]