The City of San Francisco is boasting about savings accounts it started for kindergartners back in 2011. According to the city, those 2011 kindergartners who are now starting college each had $50 automatically deposited into a K2C savings account.
Those recent high school grads now have, on average, over $1,400.
The program was started by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is now the state's governor. The account was seeded with $50 for every child entering kindergarten in San Francisco's public schools.
Of the 4,000 graduates who graduated from San Francisco's public high schools, 600 had accounts in the program.
“We started K2C so that every student in our public schools would know that they have a future worth saving for,” said San Francisco Treasurer José Cisneros. “K2C is beginning to deliver on the promise that every child growing up in San Francisco has not only a dream for college, but a pathway.”
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Officials said the program was launched because research indicates children from lower and middle-income households are three times more likely to attend college and four times more likely to graduate from college if they have money set aside.
There are now 52,000 accounts in the program with an average savings of over $1,000.
Those in the program are eligible to withdraw funds to use toward post-secondary apprenticeships, training programs, trade/vocational school, community college, or four-year college or university.
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