Kindergarten to College Savings Program

The Kindergarten to College (K2C) Savings Program has aimed to make higher education more accessible by opening college seed accounts for kindergarteners at many of Sacramento’s schools. This year, the City of Sacramento and United Way California Capital Region are continuing to pursue this equity-based mission by expanding K2C to cover even more students at more schools.

K2C opens a Seed Account with $25 for kindergarteners at our schools, free of charge. Then, we help families set up their own, Family-Owned 529 Account with the state-sponsored college savings plan ScholarShare 529. We want to encourage families to continue to invest in their child’s future, so families who invest $25 in their Family-Owned 529 Account will receive a matching $50 in the Seed Account. Furthermore, if families attend one qualifying financial workshop, they will earn an additional $100 for their account! 

These types of plans are becoming more popular in California and the United States as a whole because of the many benefits they provide. The growth of those funds over time are only one of the benefits. 

Research shows that students with any college savings account in their name, like the K2C Seed Accounts, are 3x more likely to enroll in and 4x more likely to complete college. 

K2C seeks to create the expectation that higher education is desirable and achievable for every one of our local students. With Every Kid Counts Grant from the California Student Aid Commission, we can significantly increase our program by reaching even more local schools and students. This means a new generation of youth with high expectations, commitment to continued learning, and access to higher education.