College savings accounts give Queens’ youngest a head start
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Western Queens students in Kindergarten through third grade have been given a head start with a college savings program pilot. Photo courtesy of Community School 111
By Rachel Vick
Like any devoted parent, Jackson Heights mother Willy Nandi worries about her children, their future and the unavoidable costs that come with growing up.
With one student already beginning the college application process, Nandi said connection to a 529 savings account creates a safety net for her second child — and opens the door for dreams still undiscovered.
“With this program the dreams and visions we have for our child can be realized,” she said through a translator. “I want her to be able to do the things she wants to do. I feel more confident that whatever she wants to be or become she can look forward to now that I've started saving — it's more of a reality.”
“This made a huge difference,” she added. “I'm upset I didn't set it up for my 11th grader — I didn’t know it was available. [Now] at least I can be relieved of headaches from costs that might not be covered through other scholarships and have time to save.”
Nandi’s second grade daughter — a student at P.S. 69 — is one of 13,000 District 30 students in kindergarten through third grade who signed up for the NYC Kids RISE Save for College Program that put the first $100 into the savings account.
Ninety-five percent of all eligible students in the 39 schools across Astoria, Ditmars, East Elmhurst, Hunters Point, Jackson Heights, Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside, participated, according to NYC Kids Rise.
Nandi, whose first language is Bengali, said that the program was accessible for parents that might struggle with English and even for students like her young daughter, who sat in on a recent workshop so that she would also be able to understand.
“I felt this program made it easy and accessible to join, and as a middle class family, I know that even if she receives scholarships there will be out of pocket costs,” Nandi said. “Any amount saved will help in the future and support when my daughter is ready to go to college.”
The value is apparent across the district, where other schools and families are taking advantage of the opportunity to build the foundations of financial literacy and plant the seeds for higher education.
Principal Dionne Jaggon said that her work leading Community School 111 families in the process also celebrates the potential for the students to be involved in the process. They make piggy bank-shaped invitations for parents to attend school events and put $1 in the bank, and write what they want to be when they grow up.
Many expressed an interest in paths that will solve world issues and help others, Jaggon said.
“It’s become part of the core culture of our school, we’re saving for college, putting money in the bank,” she said. “If I can create that culture of conversation where my five-year-olds and 14-year-olds... I think we’re doing a great thing and if we can enrich the community, enrich the economy by bringing forth children who will enter occupations that will better serve our community.”
The long-term goal of the program is to automatically equip every eligible NYC public school student with an account, starting their journey in the program with levels of involvement — initial investment, student participation and eventually the creation of a partner account where they can add to the savings.
Jaggon said her programming is rooted on her own experience as a New York City student who was unprepared for the technicalities of college applications and as a mother who wishes she could have started a 529 for her child earlier.
The 529 Jaggon created for her son when he was nine years old paid for two years of undergrad — she said she reminds parents today how much more they could have had if they started saving when he was five.
“I was really excited about the opportunity to have funding in the 529 for our scholars,” she said. “With NYC Kids Rise it creates a foundation for the conversations to happen at home when the kids are 5 and 6, and the parents are thinking about creating pathways for their children to get to college… and creating opportunities for our scholars to be excited.”
Jaggo said that parents “feel involved, connected, and know we’re supporting them,” which is especially important in a society where higher education is increasingly required.
“The initial push has to be for college, and college costs, and with the money… the opportunity becomes greater and we have to value the opportunity, harness it and dream big,” Jaggon added. “As educators it's important that we dream big.”
