Income program for L.A. community college students begins [Video]

A guaranteed basic income program that would pay 250 students at four Los Angeles Community College District colleges pursuing health careers $1,000 per month for 12 months is available Wednesday.

Supporters bill the Building Outstanding Opportunities for Students to Thrive as the nation’s largest guaranteed basic income program for community college students. It will be available to students at four district colleges — East Los Angeles College,  Los Angeles City College,  Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, and  Los Angeles Southwest College.

The program aims to bridge the gap between financial aid, wages and students’ cost of living, according to Gerun Riley, the president of The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, which has donated $3.175 million to the program. The Young Adults Forward Fund, an initiative of the California Community Foundation, has donated $867,500, Riley said.

“Over the past several decades, pathways to good jobs have become longer and more challenging to …