SAN JOSE, Calif.– Excite Credit Union and its Excite Foundation have won a $1 million grant from the California’s ScholarShare Investment Board (SIB) to launch education and awareness programs to promote multiple college and career savings strategies for low-income families in East San Jose, Calif.
In announcing the grant, the organizations said studies show California high school students from low-income families are half as likely to enroll in a four-year college.
What Research Shows
“Research also shows that low-income children with just $500 in a college savings account are three times more likely to enroll in college and four times more likely to graduate,” Excite Credit Union said. “The SIB grants will fund programs to educate eligible low-income families about college savings programs.”
The SIB awarded $5 million statewide to 11 local programs that provide similar college savings accounts in communities such as San Jose, Los Angeles, Oakland, and West Sacramento.
Excite said it has long been an advocate of helping lower-income families save for college, with the credit union creating the Step Up Savings program in 2019 to accelerate college savings for qualified California and North Carolina students, meeting and matching deposits at specific milestones.
‘College in my Future’
The credit union further noted the Excite Foundation launched College In My Future in 2021 to automatically provide college savings accounts for children in San Jose’s Franklin-McKinley school district.
“In August 2022, the State of California launched the CalKIDS (California Kids Investment and Development Savings) Program to help eligible low-income public school students save for college,” the credit unions aid. “The CalKIDS Program also provides a savings account for every child born in the state on or after July 1, 2022.”
SIB, an agency of the State of California chaired by State Treasurer Fiona Ma, administers the CalKIDS Program and oversees California’s official college savings plan, ScholarShare 529. Together, CalKIDS and ScholarShare 529 help families jumpstart their savings for higher education.
How Funds Will Be Used
The SIB grant funding will be used to promote outreach to parents and teens to ensure they are aware of these programs and ready to take advantage of them on a timely basis.
“For example, eligible low-income seniors who graduated high school in 2022 and 2023 already have a $500 balance in their CalKIDS accounts, but many are unaware of the program,” Excite CU said, adding it will partner with local schools and education non-profits to raise awareness among all ages.
‘Thrilled to Receive Funding’
“We are thrilled to receive this funding so that we inform parents throughout the community of the amazing savings programs available to their children right now,” said John Hogan, VP-community relations at Excite Credit Union and executive director at Excite Foundation. “After they claim CalKIDS funding, we can help them determine which college and career savings programs will work best for them, including the California state ScholarShare 529 savings programs. Our ultimate goal is to work with schools and non-profit partners to build a strong savings and post-secondary education culture throughout our community.”
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