Low-income students to reap benefits of new college savings program
Low-income students will now have additional help saving money for college thanks to a new federal program. The federal Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) funds will provide some 10,000 students with $200 to start college savings accounts as freshmen in high school. The $8.7 million initiative will allow students to earn $10 per month in the account over the next four years, with the government matching that amount. By the end of high school, the students will have earned $1,000 to use for college educational expenses.
“We believe that savings accounts play a key role in helping all students — especially those from low-income families — access and succeed in college,” said the nation’s schools chief Arne Duncan in a press release. “Empowering disadvantaged students with financial resources and skills will enable them to make smart investments in higher education — and we’ll gain valuable knowledge about how to best serve these students in the future.”
The Department of Education will keep track of the students in the program to see what impact the college savings program may have on matriculation and success in college as there will be a control group of students that are also followed. According to research highlighted by the Department of Education, students with college savings accounts are “much more likely to enroll in college than students without one.”
