Why K2C?

Only 44% of students from low-income families go to college or vocational school, compared to 79% of high-income students. High-income students not only enroll in college at a higher rate, but they are also more than 3.5x more likely  to graduate by age 24. Compared to high school graduates, college graduates with an AA degree earn $495,000 more over their lifetime, and those with a BA degree earn $1 million more.  

K2C is working to close the gap in college and vocational school enrollment by providing every child entering kindergarten with a Children’s Savings Account (CSA) seeded with $50 toward their future education. CSAs are long-term savings accounts that help children build aspirations and savings for education after high school.  

K2C has inspired CSA programs across the country, with 121 active CSA programs reaching more than 5.8 million children in 39 states, including municipal programs in Oakland, Los Angeles and New York City, and statewide programs in California, Maine, and Pennsylvania.  

Does K2C Work?

The first class of kindergartners who received K2C accounts in 2011 graduated from high school in 2023. More than 2,800 graduates from the classes of 2023 and 2024 have used $1.4 million from their K2C accounts to help pay for college or vocational school. To date, there are more than 54,000 students with K2C accounts, who have $17 million saved for their future education. 

K2C was inspired by research showing that savings for future education—even small amounts—can improve the odds that low- and moderate income students will attend and complete college. K2C is the first universal, opt-out CSA to see a group of students all the way through from kindergarten to high school graduation. Initial findings from an evaluation of K2C demonstrate the program’s impact on college enrollment and on-time high school graduation:  

• K2C closed 30% of the college enrollment gap between underrepresented students and those from represented groups.  

• Overall, K2C participants were 6% more likely to enroll in college than the comparison group.  

• This effect was largely driven by gains among underrepresented students—Black/African American , Hispanic/Latino, Filipino, Pacific Islander or American Indian/Alaskan Native— who were 12% more likely to enroll in college than similar students in the comparison group.  

• K2C closed 29% of the gap in on-time graduation for underrepresented students.  

• K2C participants from underrepresented groups had a 7% higher on-time high school graduation rate than the comparison group.  

Programs like K2C can help families see college as an achievable goal while their children are still young. And importantly, parents’ and children’s educational expectations are an important predictor of children’s later academic achievement. CSA participation is also linked to increases in reading and math scores among low-income youth. CSAs are even associated with better health for children and parents. 

Families with CSAs also engage in more planning and saving for college. Families with CSAs are 5 times more likely to save for their children’s future education and have 3.4 times as much money set aside compared to those without.  

Saving in a CSA can also help young people minimize student debt, an important outcome since indebted college graduates accumulate less wealth than do graduates who did not borrow to finance their degrees.   

With K2C, San Francisco invests in students, because they have a future worth saving for.