A college degree is a crucial key to building a career and long-term economic stability in the U.S. But a college degree or post-secondary education can be harder to attain for Black and Latine students, who may be working to meet family financial needs and have fewer resources available for college because of the racial wealth gap.

This report from Abt and Prosperity Now offers insights on ways Children’s Savings Account (CSA) programs can help increase college enrollment and completion, with an emphasis on reducing barriers for Black and Latine students.

The report examines four CSA programs from Boston Saves, Kansas City Scholars, Lansing SAVE, and Oakland Promise, and offers insights on the programs’ successes that others may learn from and leverage. Each case study explores how they are reducing barriers to college access, how they can engage with students and their families over time as students’ progress through elementary, middle, and high school, and how the programs are focusing on and learning to address differences in outcomes by race.