Kids with Savings Accounts in their Name Six Times More Likely to Attend College

Posted by on May 30, 2011

Kids with Savings Accounts in their Name Six Times More Likely to Attend College
4/25/2011

Evidence supporting the link between savings and college success is growing. Three studies out of the Center for Social Development (CSD) at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis offer a connection between assets and college enrollment and completion.

“This research underscores the importance of policies and programs that help Americans of all income levels to save for college,” says Margaret Clancy, policy director and College Savings Initiative director at CSD. “That’s why the College Savings Initiative includes innovative public policy and reforms to 529 college savings plans. The ultimate goal is to increase post-secondary education access and completion rates, particularly among lower-income students.”

In a study forthcoming in the Journal of Children and Poverty, CSD researchers found that among youth who expected to graduate from a four-year college, those with a savings account in their name were approximately six times more likely to attend college than those with no account.

http://csd.wustl.edu/AboutUs/News/Pages/Kids-with-Savings-Accounts-in-their-name.aspx