July 20, 2023

NCCPC Partners with College Promise and the Child Savings Account (CSA) Coalition

Source: Meredith Curry Nuñez, Executive Director of NCCPC

Event: NCCPC is excited to partner with College Promise and the California Child Savings (CSA) Account Coalition for a case study summarizing lessons learned and calls to action for integrating College Promise programs and Child Savings Account Programs in California. “A California Case Study: Integrating College Promise and Child Savings Account Programs to Support Young Learners Cradle to Career,” is one of three case studies highlighted by College Promise in their report Building Assets & Aspirations: A Playbook for Integrating Statewide College Promise (CP) Programs & Children’s Savings Accounts (CSAs). The playbook also includes case studies for the states of Pennsylvania and Maine.

A California Case Study: Integrating College Promise and Child Savings Account Programs to Support Young Learners Cradle to Career 

July 19, 2023

California stands out for the breadth and diversity of its College Promise (Promise) and Child Savings Account (CSA) Coalition offerings, supporting the educational achievement of children and youth throughout the state. Driven by the commitment and creativity of innovative leaders at the state, county, city, and community levels, these programs are leveraging financial resources and strategic partnerships to help equip our young people for post-secondary success. 

CSA programs in California generally focus on building college savings to pay for postsecondary education and cultivating a college-bound identity among students starting at a young age. In almost every instance (except as noted below), children are first set up with a CSA some time between infancy and first grade. College Promise programs, on the other hand, engage with youth when they are older, most commonly in high school and during the transition to college. The lack of historic alignment between College Promise and Child Savings Account programs is largely rooted in this reality of being focused on children at different phases of their growing up.  

However, as the children receiving CSAs grow older, and the college promise and child savings account fields evolve, there is an emerging awareness that it is in the best interest of our children and youth to better integrate CSA and Promise resources. With so many programs offered throughout this large state, California is an interesting case study in when and why Child Savings Account and College Promise programs move towards integration. And, although this integration work is still new in California, there are some practical examples of how CSA/Promise integration is being operationalized.  

Read the California case study by NCCPC and the CSA Coalition here (link and summary on page 13 of report).

Read the full report Building Assets & Aspirations by College Promise here.

“I didn’t realize Stockton was so focused on Head Start and ages 3-4.  This is going to be the focus in our new childcare partnership with Kidango. Will be reaching out to San Joaquin A+ for tips!”

John Hogan, Excite Credit Union

How You Can Get Involved

We are proud of and pleased with the outcome of this case study and partnership with College Promise and the CA CSA Coalition. We will continue to advocate for the support of local and statewide CSA programs to reduce barriers to access for youth and their families. We will continue to engage and convene college promise programs so that they learn from each other as they aim to tackle the same systemic challenges in their different communities. Support NCCPC’s movement by:

  • Joining our Partner Network as a funder, campus or employer partner, or legislative champion.
  • Advocating to ban scholarship displacement in California by sharing our Know Your Rights Toolkits with students, families, scholarship and service providers, and college campuses.
  • Joining our listserv to support local, regional, statewide, and federal campaigns and policy actions or to attend a committee meeting, find the schedule here.
  • Sharing this article with Northern California focused or serving organizations to learn about membership.

NCCPC and the California CSA Coalition have joined forces!

As of October 1, 2023, NCCPC and the CA CSA Coalition have officially joined forces! Learn more in our press release announcement.

At NCCPC’s 3rd Mayors’ Circle on November 2, 2023, NCCPC highlighted two important data points around child savings accounts in California:

  1. There are 16+ locally-operated Child Savings Account programs currently providing 184,499 young people with more than $30 Million invested for their post-secondary educations.
  2. Approximately 6% of California families have claimed their CalKIDS accounts so far.

Administered by the ScholarShare Investment Board and the CA Treasurer’s Office, approximately 3,600,000 children are now eligible for the CalKIDS Child Savings Account (CSA) program. This includes:

  • All babies born in California on or after July 1, 2022 will receive up to $175 in a CSA.
  • Public school 1st-12th graders who are low-income, homeless and/or in the foster care system will receive up to $1,500 in a CSA.

To date, roughly 15,000 high school graduates have used nearly $10 Million for their post-secondary education.

 

Help us spread the word about CalKIDS!

Check out the Marketing and School Toolkits below and learn more at https://calkids.org/.

CalKIDS Marketing Toolkit
CalKIDS School Toolkit