William Elliott III

Professor William Elliott III is a prominent researcher and faculty member at the University of Michigan's School of Social Work, where he directs the Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion and the Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Social Science. His work focuses on college savings accounts, college debt, and wealth inequality, drawing from his personal experience growing up in poverty in a Pennsylvania steel mill city. He has taught Proseminar in Social Work and Social Science continuously from Winter 2020 through Fall 2025.

Dr. Elliott's educational background includes a PhD in Social Work (2008) and an MSW (2005) from Washington University in St. Louis, and a BA from Geneva College (1995). His research interests span economic, educational, and racial disparities; social policy; mental health; and child development, with particular emphasis on asset-building approaches to educational equity.

Elliott's research portfolio demonstrates consistent focus on how children's savings accounts (CSAs) impact educational outcomes and wealth building, particularly for marginalized populations. His work examines programs like Oakland Promise, Prosperity Kids, K2C in San Francisco, Promise Indiana, and the Harold Alfond College Challenge. Recent publications (2021-2024) increasingly address racial wealth inequality and reparations policy, showing evolution from examining CSAs' educational impacts toward broader structural solutions for wealth disparities. His research consistently demonstrates how asset-building approaches can transform educational expectations and outcomes, particularly for low-income and minority students.

As an active public scholar, Professor Elliott has provided expert testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on CSAs, spoken with major media outlets including the Washington Post and Forbes, and engaged with community programs nationwide. His work has been published in journals such as Economics and Education Review, Journal of Poverty, Race and Social Problems, and Educational Policy, culminating in his book 'Making Education Work for the Poor: The Potential of Children's Savings Accounts'.

Professor Elliott's research program demonstrates consistent commitment to translating academic findings into practical policy solutions. His leadership of the Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion provides infrastructure for ongoing research, policy analysis, and community engagement around asset-building approaches to educational and economic equity. His work bridges academic research with real-world implementation, as evidenced by collaborations with numerous community-based CSA programs across the United States.