Kindergarten to College (K2C): Putting All Kindergartners on the Path to College

There’s compelling evidence that even modest-sized asset holdings can change the way people think about the future. This is especially true for children, where increased savings are linked to positive educational outcomes, such as academic achievement, college attendance, and degree completion. It’s likely that the sooner we start the savings process, the larger the gains will be.
 
A new and exciting effort is underway in San Francisco designed to build upon these connections. The Kindergarten to College (K2C) program is a city/private partnership that ultimately will open a college-dedicated savings account for every kindergartner enrolled in the city’s schools. It’s a program that has remarkable potential and will be worth following closely.
 
In that spirit, I’m pleased to announce the release of this new paper, “Kindergarten to College: A First-in-the-Nation Initiative to Set All Kindergartners on the Path to College,” written by Anne Stuhldreher, Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation, and Leigh Phillips from the San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment. The paper chronicles the development of an innovative policy and presents an informative and instructive case study.
 
K2C is an opportunity for the parents of young children in San Francisco to look ahead to a brighter future. For the rest of us, it’s a tremendous learning opportunity and this paper makes a valuable contribution to that process.