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William Elliott III

Professor of Social Work, Director, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Social Science

William Elliott III

Professor William Elliott is a leading researcher in the fields of college savings accounts, college debt, and wealth inequality. Shaped by his personal roots in poverty in a small steel mill city in Pennsylvania, Professor Elliott pursues challenging individual beliefs and cultural values that surround funding for college, student debt, inequality, systemic patterns of poverty, and educational justice. Being refined in poverty allows him to approach questions in his research differently.

Some of the college savings account programs he is currently conducting research on are the Oakland Promise in California, Prosperity Kids in New Mexico, K2C in San Francisco, Promise Indiana, and the Harold Alfond College challenge in Maine. He’s published in journals such as Economics and Education Review, Journal of Poverty, Race and Social Problems, Educational Policy, and his most recent book is, “Making Education Work for the Poor: The Potential of Children’s Savings Accounts”. His research adds fuel to debates about how to imagine ways of financing college other than by student debt. He believes that there are real possibilities and his research bears this out. He asks if college education can truly be the great equalizer it is meant to be when wealth inequality remains the defining feature of American society. He calls for the next great wealth transfer in America. The seemingly naive premise behind Professor Elliott’s research is that there are better, more effective, and more just ways of financing college and delivering on the promise of the American dream. He suggests, people must just be shown once again that more is possible.

Research Interests/Focus

Economic, educational, and racial disparities; social policy; mental health; child development

Education

Year Degree   School
2008 PhD Social Work Washington University, St. Louis, MO
2005 MSW Social Work Washington University, St. Louis, MO
1995 BA Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA

Websites

Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion
Year Description
2022 Elliott, W. (2022, May). Case Building: Evidence from the Scholarship of Savings. CollegePromise, Washington, D.C.
2022 Asset Perspective (Elliott, W., 2022) What Does Economic Security Look Like and How to Get There, Ann Arbor, MI
2022 Elliott, W. (2022, May). Engagement in CSA Program. Canada Education Savings Program
2022 Elliott, W. (2022, April). Evidence from St. Paul, MN College-Bound CSA Program. Presentation to Mayor Carter and his committee on College-Bound
2022 Elliott, W. (2022, April). Case for CSAs. The Campaign for Grade level Reading. Durham, NC.
2021 Elliott, W. (2021, May). Helping communities and families save for college: Child development Accounts. Keynote speech for Washington Student Achievement Council Pave the Way Webinar
2021 Elliott, W. (2021, May). Recruitment and admissions in PhD Education. 2021 GADE conference: An Inclusive Future for Doctoral Education
2021 Elliott, W. (2021, Nov.) Connecting futures with Present: The role of Children’s Savings Accounts. Presentation to Kaufmann Foundation Grantees, Kansas City, KS
2021 Zheng, H and Elliott, W. (2021, Nov.). Panel on Family-Centered Approaches to College Promise Programs: Improving Postsecondary Success Among Low-Income Families. APPAM, Austin, TX.
2021 Elliott, W. (2021, Nov.) We also have to give children something to live for. Alice P. Lin Lecture, Columbia University, New York, NY.
2020 Elliott, W. (2020, October). Igniting a wealth revolution: Will social workers lead? NASW, MI.
2020 Elliott, W. (2020, January). Lessons Learned and Strategies Shared: How to Successfully Develop your Scholarly Agenda as an Underrepresented Junior Faculty Member. Society of Social Work and Research (SSWR) Annual Conference.
2020 Elliott, W. (2020, July). All children can reach their full potential: A child development account conference. Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
2018 Elliott, W. (2018, February). Moving from a Period of Normal Science to Revolution: Wealth Inequality and Education in America – Social Justice Matters Series, University of Michigan.
2018 Elliott, W. (2018, May). From Crisis to Revolution: Making Education the True Equalizer it was Meant to Be. Academic Innovation (Hatcher Library) – lunch topics on diversity, equity, and inclusion, University of Michigan.
2018 Elliott, W. (2018, February). CSA Research – Michigan Children’s Savings Account Consortium (CEDAM).
2018 Elliott, W. (2018, January). Michigan Research Community’s winter seminar, University of Michigan.
2018 Elliott, W. (2018, November). CSA Research - Barry Community Foundation, Barry County, MI.

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