Single Stop USA

CEO & Co-Founder: Elizabeth Mason

Website: www.www.singlestopusa.org.org

The Need
The U.S. Department of Education estimates that 80 percent of community college students face financial pressures that threaten their ability to complete their degrees. Often the first in their families to attend college, many of these students struggle to make ends meet for themselves and their families.

• 29% of community college students have incomes under $20,000.
• 79% work
• 35% are parents

Every year 45% of community college students in the U.S. drop out before completing a degree. A 2005 study found that the three-year graduation rate for first-time, full-time community college students in Massachusetts was just 17.4%. The same study showed a 37% six-year graduation rate for a 1998 cohort of community college students. Too many students are forced to make the choice between paying bills for basic needs – housing, food, healthcare – and staying in school.

Single Stop allows students to do both. It helps low-income students access the non-academic financial resources they need to stabilize their financial situations and increase their incomes, allowing them to stay in school and continue working toward their degrees.

How it works

Single Stop provides a one-stop place at community colleges where low-income students can go to access a comprehensive set of services, including benefits counseling, free tax preparation, legal assistance and financial counseling. Single Stop staff and volunteers use Single Stop’s cutting edge technology tool – the Benefits Enrollment Network (BEN) – to determine which benefits a client is eligible for in as little as 15 minutes. They then guide students through the application process for benefits like SNAP/food stamps, Medicaid, housing assistance, child care and heating assistance. During tax time, Single Stop offers free tax preparation services so students can file for the Earned Income Tax Credit and complete their financial aid forms.

Results

• In 2010, Single Stop connected 10,000 students to more than $22 million in benefits and services. That’s an average of $2,200 per family, or 22% of the average income of students served.
• These financial interventions have been shown to increase semester-to-semester re-enrollment by 30%.
• The average cost for Single Stop to serve a student is close to $250 a year while the average value of benefits and services Single Stop unlocks for each student served is over $2500, and significant and rare leverage on dollars invested in Single Stop.

Single Stop in Boston

Single Stop will launch its work in Boston in the first quarter of 2012 through a partnership with Bunker Hill Community College. It will be able to serve 800 students at Bunker Hill by the end of the 2011-2012 school year. By its fourth year here, Single Stop will be serving around 4,000 students on multiple community college campuses, raising the college persistence and graduation rates of these students – and significantly increasing their chances for a lifetime of financial stability and success.