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Program Design to Ease Administrative Burden in Times of Crisis: An Evaluation of Two Emergency Aid Programs in Los Angeles

Originally Published: January, 2025 By Jeimee Estrada-Miller, Hilary Olson, and Gary Painter Categories: Aid

With students increasingly struggling to afford basic needs, emergency aid (EA) programs provide small grants to help students overcome short-term financial hardships and improve longer-term academic success.

Drawing on the theoretical framing of administrative burden, this article analyzes the trade-offs between streamlining application processes and targeting limited resources to the highest need students by investigating the learning, psychological, and compliance costs that students can face when applying for EA.

Using data from two EA programs drawn from 85 interviews, 893 applications, and 153 survey responses, we find that the programs were able to ease burdens, especially compliance costs. Further, the vast majority of EA went to high-need students, although nearly 20% of recipients had family incomes above $100,000.
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