Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

‘You are college bound’: State sends message with free savings accounts for every kid

The class of 2027 squirmed on the stage as the graduation tune “Pomp and Circumstance” played over the speakers at Bonner Elementary School.

Members of the future graduating class wore baggy T-shirts that hung at their knees and read “is going to college” with an arrow pointed up, and held signs displaying jobs like “lawyer” and “principal.”

In front of them, about 30 parents clutched brochures about saving for college and waved at their kids onstage. For those 10 seconds of the clip, it seemed like they were wearing caps and gowns instead of baggy shirts.

“Parents, do you know what that sound is?” Principal Paul Catania said.

“Graduation,” some said. “It’s time to pay up,” another parent said.

The parents and children gathered Tuesday at Bonner for the launch of the Nevada College Kick Start Program, which gives the state’s 35,000 kindergarten students each a college savings account with $50 under their name. For the kids still learning their ABCs and 123s, college is a word they just learned today and will probably forget tomorrow.

But for parents, when it comes to saving for the mounting costs of college, 13 years isn’t that far off.

“The cost of college is going up, it’s going up faster than anything else in the country,” state Treasurer Kate Marshall said. “This is our way to say to you let’s take this one small step that leads to a larger step."

This is the second year the Office of State Treasurer has opened college accounts for kindergarten students. Using revenue from out-of-state licensing fees, the program has started $50 college savings accounts for approximately 70,000 children over two years.

That money will sit in the fund for 13 years until the child goes to school. By that time, Marshall estimates that it will total $1,000, enough for books or getting in the door of school.

It might not seem like a lot of money, but it accomplishes the program’s main goal of starting the conversation about college. They chose kindergartners because it teaches them that college is possible at a young age and informs parents on how to start saving, Marshall said.

“You’re telling a child in a real, tangible way, ‘You are college bound,’” Marshall said.

Both Clark County Schools Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky and School Board President Erin Cranor were at the event to speak about the road to saving for college. Skorkowsky said most parents who went to college know what it takes to save for school, but this program helps to reach other parents and inform them about starting an account.

College is something John Tighi had thought about recently. He’s done the math. He has two boys, ages 3 and 6, and in order to send them both to Stanford or his alma mater USC, he estimates it would cost him $500,000.

He and his wife plan to start saving now, but he knows they won’t be able to fully pay for both kids to go to school like his parents did for him.

“It’s a little frustrating,” Tighi said.

“There are ways around (the cost) like going to community college for two years,” he said. “Maybe my kid can get a scholarship.”

Tamara Rozenberg, who is paying her own way through College of Southern Nevada to become a nurse, hadn’t thought about starting a college savings account for her 5-year-old son until the event. After hearing about the program, she plans to start one.

Pretty soon it will be the year 2027 and “Pomp and Circumstance” will be playing for real. Rozenberg hopes her investment now will mean that when that time comes, her son won’t have to pay anything for college.

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