Hilary Olson

Bridging Research and Real-World Change

Hilary Olson, Victoria Cuidad-Real, Gary Painter and Cara Esposito The Bigger Picture Podcast Los Angeles, CA, USA

Abstract

In this podcast, we discuss findings from our evaluation of two Emergency Aid (EA) programs at the University of Southern California (USC) and the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). By offering small grants to students facing financial hardship, these programs seek to help students overcome short-term emergencies and encourage longer-term student success. To evaluate the performance of these programs, the research team analyzed application data from 162 USC and 405 LACCD applications, as well as and conducted 35 USC and 26 LACCD participant interviews.