Recruiting

Negative Income Tax

Sponsor:

University of Pennsylvania

Code:

NCT07463131

Conditions

Poverty

Education Advancement

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Negative Income Tax

Control

Study Details

Brief summary:

In partnership with a local community college in in Omaha, Nebraska, the Center for Guaranteed Income Research (CGIR) at the University of Pennsylvania will conduct a randomized controlled trial to determine the impacts of a negative income tax for MCC students, with particular attention to educational and career advancement outcomes. The sample will include students in a degree-seeking program, as well as those in non-degree programs, such as those working towards professional certificates.

Conditions

Poverty

Education Advancement

Study ID

NCT07463131

Start date

Jun 1, 2026

Status verified date

Sep, 2026

Completion date

Jun 1, 2030

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun 1, 2030

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion criteria:

  • 19 years of age or older, and
  • Currently in 2nd semester of MCC Associate's program OR completed at least one Level-1 credential OR within one month of completing a Level 2 credential, and
  • Have a total adjusted gross income (AGI) $6,000 below the SPM for the reported family size, and
  • Compliant with community college's enrollment, participation, and documentation requirements

Study Design

Enrollment

750 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Associate's Degree Seekers with NIT

Students currently enrolled in an Associate's Degree program at the community college will receive a negative income tax for a duration of two years followed by a linear titration of payments for one year

experimental: Credential Seekers with NIT

Students currently enrolled in a credential program at the community college will receive a negative income tax for a duration of one year followed by a linear titration of payments for six months

active comparator: Control

These students will not receive the negative income tax

Interventions

Negative Income Tax

Negative income tax calculated by the supplemental poverty measures less the household's prior tax year adjusted gross income, then divided by 12 to arrive at a monthly cash transfer

Control

No negative income tax payment

Primary outcome measure

  • Educational Program Completion [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, 30 months, 36 months, 42 months ]
  • Workforce participation [ Time Frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, 30 months, 36 months, 42 months ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Stacia West, PhD

215-898-5512swest11@utk.edu

Locations

Metropolitan Community College (MCC)

Recruiting

Omaha, Nebraska, United States, 68111

More Information

Sponsor

University of Pennsylvania

Last update posted

Sep 8, 2026

Last verified

Sep, 2026

Keywords

  • Cash transfer

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by University of Pennsylvania on 2026-09-08.