WASHINGTON, Sept. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — This fall, Digital Pioneers Academy (DPA), a high-performing public charter school serving students from predominantly Wards 7 and 8, will launch The $50 Study in partnership with Rooted School Foundation. The program will provide $50 per week for 40 weeks, totaling $2,000 per student, to 40 senior students at DPA, marking one of the first programs of its kind in the District of Columbia.
DPA is the first school in Washington, DC, to partner with The $50 Study, a national initiative facilitated by Rooted School Foundation since 2020. The program provides high school students with unconditional cash transfers via reloadable debit cards and assesses their impact on student well-being, financial capability, and academic engagement. This launch is made possible through the support of Education Forward DC, a local funder that works to advance quality and equity in D.C. public schools.
Backed by a dual-year randomized controlled trial conducted by researchers at the Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania, The $50 Study has shown meaningful, measurable results. Key findings from RCT include:
- Improved Attendance: Students receiving cash attended 1.23 more days of school per semester than peers in the control group.
- Stronger Financial Capability: Participants demonstrated greater understanding of financial products and planning.
- Meeting Basic Needs: Nearly half (45.8%) of spending went toward essentials like food, followed by education-related expenses and savings.
- Financial Discipline: Approximately 52% of students ended the study with money in their accounts. The students who ended with a positive balance had an average of $300 in savings in their accounts.
- Greater Agency: Students used the funds to pursue long-term goals, such as ACT prep, dual enrollment coursework, and obtaining a driver’s license.
DPA students will opt in to the program, with 40 students selected through a random lottery. The pilot will test the program’s impact in a new geography and explore effects on attendance and school engagement—building on a growing body of evidence that shows how financial stability can support academic success.
“At Digital Pioneers Academy, we believe in removing barriers that stand in the way of student success,” said Mashea Ashton, CEO and Founder of Digital Pioneers Academy. “Through participation in The $50 Study, we have the opportunity to explore how direct financial support can impact our high school seniors’ focus and futures. We are grateful to participate and are eager to share our findings so that schools everywhere can learn from our experience.
“The $50 Study represents a fundamental reimagining of how we address opportunity gaps in education. What makes DC and our partnership with Education Forward DC and DPA remarkable is that we’re proving a simple principle: when you remove financial barriers for young people through direct, unconditional support, you create measurable impact. This isn’t just another pilot program. It’s a blueprint for how cities can make real, data-driven progress on challenges we’ve accepted as intractable. DC has the opportunity to show that the most elegant solutions are often the most direct ones.” – Jonathan Johnson, Founder/CEO of Rooted School Foundation.
“Ed Forward DC is excited to partner with the Rooted School Foundation to pilot the $50 Study at Digital Pioneers Academy,” said Bisi Oyedele, CEO of Ed Forward DC. “Bold ideas are critical as we strive to improve student outcomes across the city. Providing students with financial resources and responsibility has the potential to ease economic challenges that pose barriers to success for many DC students furthest from opportunity. We look forward to assessing the impacts of this promising strategy to build on DC’s education progress.”
As the first DC-based partner school, DPA is helping lead the way in reimagining how schools can directly support students’ academic well-being and financial needs as part of their education. Rooted School Foundation aims to expand this work across the city and the country in the years ahead.
About Rooted School Foundation
The Rooted School Foundation is a nonprofit organization encompassing several public charter schools and youth programs. RSF partners with forward-thinking organizations to test place-based strategies that accelerate upward economic and social mobility for students across the United States. Learn more at rootedschool.org.
About The $50 Study
The $50 Study is a program of the Rooted School Foundation that explores the impact of unconditional cash transfers to high school students. Since its launch in 2020, it has become the largest and most empirically driven initiative of its kind in the U.S., with research partners at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Guaranteed Income Research and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
About Digital Pioneers Academy
Digital Pioneers Academy is a tuition-free public charter middle and high school open to all students in grades 6 through 12. Founded in 2018 by Mashea Ashton, the school empowers students—primarily from Wards 7 and 8—to develop marketable computer science skills and habits of innovation so they can experience a future of choice.
About Education Forward DC
Since 2016, Education Forward DC has supported DC education leaders, schools, parents, and students to make meaningful improvements in schools. With a focus on students furthest from opportunity—especially Black and Latinx students—the organization works to ensure every student in DC receives the education they need to thrive. Learn more at edforwarddc.org.
Contacts:
Talia Livneh, Rooted School Foundation, youthcashtransfer@rootedschool.org
Steve Mancini, DPA, smancini@mangostrategies.com
SOURCE Rooted School Foundation
