BOOST: Building Outstanding Opportunities for Students to Thrive

In November 2024, the Foundation launched its most ambitious effort to date. BOOST—Building Outstanding Opportunities for Students to Thrive—  a transformative program designed to bridge the gap between financial aid, wages, and the rising cost of living for students in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD).

BOOST is a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) program that will provide $1,000 per month for 12 months in unconditional cash payments to a cohort of 251 students, with a particular emphasis on those pursuing careers in clinical, allied, or behavioral health.

The program focuses on four LACCD colleges: East LA College, LA City College, LA Trade-Technical College, and LA Southwest College. Over the year-long program, a total of $3 million will be granted to students.

BOOST is the largest GBI program for community college students in the U.S. to date and the first to include a Randomized Control Trial (RCT).

Through a mixed method, randomized control trial led by the University of Pennsylvania, BOOST will also provide insights into the lives of LACCD students and how to improve programming and philanthropic efforts to support their success.

The program is made possible through more than $4 million in private funding from The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Young Adults Forward Fund, the ECMC Foundation, and the Weingart Foundation.