Diverse families gathering at a celebration in a classroom.

Families from across the Save for College Community gathered at Sunnyside Community Services for a Family and Community Dinner in October 2019.

Save for College Program Briefs

What would New York City look like if every NYC public school student had a financial asset for college and career training, starting from their first days of kindergarten, and support from every part of their community to achieve educational and economic success?

Over the past four years, stakeholders from the public, private, philanthropic, and nonprofit sectors have come together with school partners, community leaders, and more than 10,000 families to design and pilot a model that brings that vision to life.

The briefs below each explore a critical component, or Pillar, of our collective approach. As a whole, these briefs capture important learnings from the Save for College Program journey, codify the evolution, implementation, and early results from the pilot phase, and can serve as a resource for practitioners and policymakers that are interested in learning about and building upon the model.  It is also our hope that the material provides useful context and functions as a tool as the Save for College Program expands to serve  more students throughout New York City.

Save for College Program Approach

The Save for College Program provides a universal scholarship and savings platform that has the potential to increase NYC public school students’ access to and graduation from college and career training; reduce the amount of debt that students and their families take on; and position them to earn higher incomes and build more wealth later in life, within neighborhoods of opportunity. This brief provides an overview of why the Program was created, as well as the values, research, and theory of change that has informed its design.

PILLAR 1

Account Infrastructure

Universal Scholarship and Savings Accounts through the Save for College Program

Every student in a participating elementary school, starting in kindergarten, automatically receives an NYC Scholarship Account invested in the NY 529 Direct Plan, unless their family chooses not to participate. Each account has an initial deposit from NYC Kids RISE, and families can earn additional scholarship rewards for early engagement and savings. Their families can also open their own college savings account—either a 529 plan or bank savings account and start saving their own money in the ways and amounts that make sense for them. Having assets for higher education thereby becomes part of what it means to go to public school in NYC.

This brief is focused on the account infrastructure of the Save for College Program, or the two accounts that create the foundation of the platform: the scholarship and savings accounts.

PILLAR 2

Community Scholarships

Leveraging Local and Citywide Assets to Build Wealth in Neighborhoods

Community Scholarships—contributions to NYC Kids RISE that it deposits directly into designated groups of students’ NYC Scholarship Accounts—enable local organizations, businesses, neighbors, and the entire City to direct funds to and fundraise for students’ educational savings, leveraging local assets to build financial wealth in and with communities that have historically faced systemic barriers to wealth-building. These assets can meaningfully reduce the amount of student debt families take on, increasing long-term wealth-building potential and combatting trends that have contributed to wealth inequality and the racial wealth gap. At the same time, by visibly and tangibly demonstrating community-wide support for every child’s future, Community Scholarships can also reinforce expectations of success throughout a neighborhood.

This brief is focused on Community Scholarships, which are a way for communities to leverage their unique assets, institutions, and traditions to visibly and tangibly support their children’s educational futures.

PILLAR 3, PART 1

Integration with the Social Infrastructure

Part 1: The Role of Schools, the Heart of the Neighborhood

Schools, community based organizations, social services, employers, and other institutions that make up the social infrastructure of a neighborhood can integrate these accounts into their services and leverage them to achieve shared goals, strengthening local social networks and social capital. Research shows the significant impacts of neighborhoods on a child’s life chances. Social capital—the strength of social networks and community involvement—contributes to creating neighborhoods with greater economic opportunity for its residents.

This brief is focused on how the district administration and school leadership and stakeholders in School District 30 co-created core components of the Save for College Program with NYC Kids RISE and integrated it into each school community.

PILLAR 3, PART 2

Integration with the Social Infrastructure

Part 2: The Role of Community Based Organizations, Critical Support Structures for Students and Families

Schools, community based organizations, social services, employers, and other institutions that make up the social infrastructure of a neighborhood can integrate these accounts into their services and leverage them to achieve shared goals, strengthening local social networks and social capital. Research shows the significant impacts of neighborhoods on a child’s life chances. Social capital—the strength of social networks and community involvement—contributes to creating neighborhoods with greater economic opportunity for its residents.

This brief is focused on the role of community based organizations (CBOs) as key pieces of the neighborhood social infrastructure that can use the Save for College Program to advance their work to support children’s and families’ educational and economic success.

PILLAR 4

Democratizing Capital Markets & Savings Options

Creating Inclusive College Savings Vehicles with and for NYC’s Diverse Families

NYC Kids RISE and its partners have won and continue to advocate for further inclusive enhancements to the NY 529 Direct Plan, democratizing access to the benefits of capital markets, investment earnings, and tax incentives for NYC’s diverse families. NYC Kids RISE has also partnered with other financial institutions to offer inclusive college savings options for all families. Removing structural barriers to mainstream financial institutions and financial assets for low-income families and families of color sets students up for financial success and combats trends that have contributed to large and growing wealth disparities.

This brief is focused on how NYC Kids RISE has worked with partners, since the inception of the Save for College Program, to make capital markets more accessible to NYC families.

PILLAR 5

Financial Empowerment & Education

Participating schools integrate customized, standards-aligned lessons in the classroom that promote financial capability and college-going expectations, starting in kindergarten. As a two-generation model, Program partners also support financial capability for parents/guardians and family members through informational workshops, financial coaching and counseling, and other free services that leverage the account platform.

Stay Tuned! Brief forthcoming.

PILLAR 6

Convening & Organizing

With universal enrollment across every school and neighborhood in NYC, this platform has the potential to enable communities to convene, learn from one another, and organize to advance shared goals in their community. Stakeholders within and across neighborhoods can come together through this platform to foster “community support for college and career training” in their community and advocate for broader policy changes that advance their educational and economic opportunities.

Stay Tuned! Brief forthcoming.