Abt developed two guides for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau covering the design and evaluation of Children’s Savings Account (CSA) programs, which provide a promising way to help economically vulnerable households pay for college. The guides complement one another and are designed to be read in order.

The first, Design and Evaluation Principles for Children’s Savings Account Programs, offers:

1. Key principles that programs may want to consider when designing or expanding their CSA programs;
2. Important information on how to develop a theory of change, which can provide a foundation for program design; and
3. A description of various ev aluation options that a program should consider as it  decides how to measure its effects and impact. 

The second guide, Common Metrics for Children’s Savings Account Programs, provides a roadmap for selecting the measures a program will use to gauge success based on its goals, and  guidance on the data and information needed to utilize the metrics as effective measures of program and participant performance.

Download "Design and Evaluation Principles for Children’s Savings Account Programs"

Download "Common Metrics for Children’s Savings Account Programs"