The Launch of the Kindergarten to College Initiative

The New America Foundation’s Asset Building Program joined with the Mayor’s and Treasurer’s offices for the press conference launch of the Kindergarten to College initiative. The city is opening and seeding college savings accounts for public school Kindergartners, EARN is matching families’ contributions, and schools are going to make the accounts part of an integrated financial education curriculum. This pilot is the first universal college savings account initiative undertaken by a city government for its children at the start of their public education, and for a thousandth of a percent of the city’s budget, San Francisco has offered kids and their families a way to increase college aspirations and get a head start on college savings. K2C aims to increase college aspirations for every child, while helping families get a head start on college savings.

The San Francisco Chronicle ran a story about the initiative at the top of its front page the day of the launch; You can read our press release, see our Spanish-language interview with a Kindergarten to College parent, and see the press launch video here.

This is an important achievement by the City of San Francisco. Its leadership has shown that the city is willing to make a small but transformative investment in its children’s future, and put them on the path to saving and investing in themselves. We encourage other cities to follow suit, and will continue to support this initiative as it moves into the next stage.

Participants

Gavin Newsom
Mayor of San Francisco

José Cisneros
City Treasurer of San Francisco

Bob Annibale
Global Director of Microfinance, Citigroup

Carlos Garcia
Superintendent, San Francisco Unified School District

Bevan Dufty
Supervisor of District 8

David Campos
Supervisor of District 9

Ben Mangan
CEO of EARN

Bob Friedman
Founder of CFED

Dr. Sandra Hernandez
Executive Director, San Francisco Foundation

Anne Stuhldreher
Senior Fellow, New America Foundation