The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) has recently announced an initiative known as Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) for students pursuing healthcare careers. This initiative would provide $3 million worth of monthly payments for LACCD students.
Having this initiative open to other students and campuses can aid many students pursuing careers outside of healthcare. Community college students often have challenges that include food scarcity, homelessness, single-parent families and first-generation students.
In the LACCD, 50.7% of students are considered low-income, 45% are first generation, 55% suffer from housing insecurity, 62.7% suffer from food insecurity and 19% are homeless.
While the initiative has just taken place as of November, it is currently only available to 250 students at four district colleges: East Los Angeles College, Los Angeles City College, LA Trade-Technical College, and Los Angeles Southwest College. Programs such as GBI should be on all nine campuses.
According to ABC Eyewitness News, this initiative is being funded through the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation ($3,175,000) and the Young Adults Forward ($867,500) fund. The program’s goals are meant to bridge the gap between financial aid, wages and students’ cost of living.
In the LACCD, 72.7% are considered part time. Bridging the gap and providing aid for students can help raise graduation rates and help students focus on their academics. Financial burden can be overwhelming, and working tends to be the main focus for many students to fund their living situations.
According to the National Association of Student Financial Aid and Administrators, 85% of adults who stopped attending or never enrolled in higher education programs did so due to the cost of attendance.
GBI can help students avoid taking out student loans and can help students provide for their daily life and focus on their higher education.
According to LAist, the payments are free from conditions, and students receive debit cards with the funds loaded on them. Students can use the payments for anything they need to relieve their financial burden.
That is why the district should expand GBI to all students.
