Constitution High School Students Study Tax Preparation at Wharton and Practice Their Skills with Philadelphia Taxpayers

Tax preparation season has taken on new meaning this year for the Wharton Global Youth Program at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Since January, 15 students from Philadelphia’s Constitution High School who are enrolled in Wharton Global Youth’s credit-bearing Embedded Pre-baccalaureate Program have been taking Introduction to Income Tax Preparation and U.S. Fiscal Policy with Wharton accounting lecturer, Edward Scott.

Twice a week – in person at Constitution High on Thursdays and virtually each Friday – the students learn about the tax system as it relates to individuals and sole proprietors; tax policy, including deductions, subsidies and credits; and community service.

The students, many high school seniors who have part-time jobs that help them see the relationship to income taxes, stay connected to the material with online modules delivered through the Canvas learning platform. In April, they will put their new knowledge into practice when they volunteer with VITA, the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, and help prepare tax returns and report taxable income for low-income families in the Philadelphia community.

Valuable Connections

For Lauren More, Wharton Global Youth’s director of enrollment management and learning pathways, this unique relationship with local students at Constitution, a public, magnet high school, has been a constructive and positive way to engage with the city.

“We partnered with Philadelphia Heights, a nonprofit that builds pathways to college and career for the city’s students, to connect with Constitution High. Since then, we’ve been working directly with the school’s principal Brianna Dunn-Robb, and the classroom co-teacher Matthew Rogerson to identify interested students and support them on this Wharton tax course that has previously only been taught to college students,” says More. “The high school has made our program a priority for their students and has appreciated providing them with new, challenging opportunities that also involve community service.”

Lecturer Scott, a CPA who typically helps to teach a Wharton version of this course known as ACCT/BEPP (Business Economics and Public Policy) 2110 to undergraduates, calls his first high school cohort “deeply engaged,” adds More. With the help of undergraduate mentors, Scott has worked closely with the Constitution High students to teach the rigorous tax coursework and get them ready for their hands-on tax assistance debut in April.

“This is a unique opportunity for us to position ourselves and put our money where our mouth is, so to speak, of being good stewards of the neighborhood, good neighbors, giving back, and doing so in a way that is meaningful and intentional.” –Lisa Parladé, leader of the Tax Preparation Collective, University of Pennsylvania

Wharton Global Youth’s Introduction to Income Tax Preparation and U.S. Fiscal Policy for high school students is one part of a much larger initiative at the University of Pennsylvania known as the Tax Preparation Collective or TPC, which started in 2023 with an academic class at Wharton and has since gathered strength.

The TPC manages a collaboration with the Campaign for Working Families (CWF), a Philadelphia nonprofit serving low- to moderate-income Philadelphians that oversees the IRS-VITA program in Philadelphia. As this relationship has gained momentum, the Tax Preparation Collective has given rise to new Penn student clubs like VITA Penn, alumni engagement, and now, a new Wharton Global Youth credit course.

Spokes of a Wheel

A clear measure of the TPC’s success is money that finds its way back into Philadelphians’ pockets. By training Penn undergraduates in volunteer tax preparation, the Collective has processed 1,287 returns and helped Philadelphia taxpayers claim $1.3 million in refunds – and growing. According to the Campaign for Working Families, every year nearly 40,000 Philadelphia residents do not claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, despite being eligible. Philadelphians reportedly leave $600 million in eligible refunds on the table each year.

Wharton’s original academics-only Tax Policy in the Philadelphia Community class for undergrads was a smaller pilot — and now fills all seats, notes Lisa “LP” Parladé, who leads the Tax Preparation Collective along with Utsav Schurmans, with Wharton faculty oversight from Prof. Cathy Schrand. As Parladé and Collective members strengthened ties with CWF, students were so moved by their work securing tax refunds for families that they soon clamored to participate for no credit.

“We envision it as various spokes of a singular wheel that are moving this work forward and helping out with the economic empowerment and financial well-being of community members in Philadelphia,” says Parladé, a Philadelphia native who took advantage of the city’s free tax services early in her career. She is now associate director of advising in Wharton’s undergraduate division. “Penn does a lot of good in the community, but I don’t know that this reputation is always shared amongst community members… I think this is a unique opportunity for us to position ourselves and put our money where our mouth is, so to speak, of being good stewards of the neighborhood, good neighbors, giving back, and doing so in a way that is meaningful and intentional.”

The evolution from purely academic, to more hands-on volunteering through CWF and VITA, to robust student-led involvement has been remarkable to watch, adds Schurmans, who is director of research and scholar programs at Wharton. It also speaks to the value of the experience for Philadelphia residents. “The majority of the clients are return clients,” he notes. “When I talk to them and ask why they are returning, they say it is because the free tax service we are providing is amazing. They appreciate it and tell their friends.”

Into the City

Siobhan Quagrainie-Halm is a Wharton undergrad who took part as a freshman in the first 2023 ACCT/BEPP 2110 class with Professor Scott. She now helps to lead the VITA-Penn student club and serves as a teaching assistant in the current 2110 class for undergraduates. The course, she confirms, has become very popular – and she is always eager to recruit new incoming students to join the effort. A native of Ghana and a British resident, she was shocked by the complexity of the U.S. tax system, with all its forms, codes, rules, and credits.

Following her academic experience, Siobhan also received training from CWF and completed more than 40 hours of tax preparation with Philadelphia families at various VITA sites around the city – her first “refreshing” foray outside of Penn’s campus.

“I was able to shadow a volunteer for a few hours who was more of an expert, so that was helpful,” notes Siobhan. “We got a lot of help from people who reviewed our work with clients to make sure it was correct, and from the managers of the VITA sites. If you have questions, you can stop at any time and clarify something for a client.”

An important part of the experience, she adds, is relating to people. “Some of the clients I worked with didn’t know they were eligible for certain tax credits, so that helped them get money back,” says Siobhan. “Others were not getting as much money as they did the year before. As volunteers, you have to be prepared to explain that to them and talk it through because they are upset. It was a relief when the clients were happy.”

Her advice to the first group of high school students taking the course and helping prepare residents’ returns? “Be humble, be willing to learn, don’t hesitate to ask for help, and learn how to communicate with the clients and the managers.”

The 15 students from Constitution High will soon begin engaging with some of those clients in April and connecting their coursework to the real world (we plan to share some of their reflections in the coming weeks). Wharton Global Youth’s Lauren More expects them to take a lot away from the hands-on experience.

“What I truly like about this course –about all the courses we provide through the Embedded Pre-baccalaureate model — is that it’s such a practical, tangible life skill,” says More. “In addition to volunteering in the community to bring money back to Philadelphians, these students can now complete their own taxes confidently. They can help their parents, and they can help their neighbors. It has a powerful long-term impact.”