Families at P.S. 70 in Astoria decorated money boxes as part of an NYC Scholarship Week celebration in April 2019.
Pilot Metrics
The NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program is now in its fourth year of operation. The many partners who came together across Community School District 30 neighborhoods helped achieve the following during the three-year pilot phase that ended on June 30th of 2020*:
10,000+
Total kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade students enrolled, regardless of immigration status or income (95% of all eligible students)
39
Participating district and charter schools across School District 30 including Astoria, Corona, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Long Island City, Sunnyside, and Woodside
40+
Community organizations and businesses involved in Community Scholarship campaigns and events
$3.35M+
Total assets accumulated for participating students’ college and career futures, including contributions from NYC Kids RISE, community scholarships, and families’ own savings
5050+
Families activated and viewed their child’s NYC Scholarship Accounts online
1,590+
Families opened or connected their own 529 or bank account through the platform
6
Policy changes to the NY 529 plan made in response to requests and feedback from the Save for College Program Community, including eliminating minimum deposits, full Spanish-language materials and support, and more
6
Community based organizations part of a community of practice to integrate the Save for College Program into their programming and services, with support from Citi
7,600+
Total attendees at Save for College Program events
4x
Average increase in likelihood of having a 529 account across participating zip codes from 2014 (before the Save for College Program) to 2019
$1.1M+
In emergency cash distributed to over 4900 unique families between April and July 2020
756
School staff and stakeholders participated in a Save for College Program professional learning & feedback session
* Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all NYC public schools transitioned to remote learning in March of 2020 for the remainder of the school year and through the end of the pilot phase (June 30, 2020), impacting metrics and milestones for the final quarter.