Education Matters: Statewide program gives parents opportunity to save for college
FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE) – A statewide program is giving parents a head start in saving for their child’s college education.
Baby Corbin Mares is only seven months old and has a few years before he even starts kindergarten, yet his mother, Casey Mares is already thinking about his college education.
“I’ve always been very hungry for knowledge, so having that ability to kind of foster that into my own children and to into this new generation is definitely important,” Mares said.
Like most parents, Mares is concerned about the cost.
“Especially now, cost has always been a little bit of fear because how were you supposed to kind of incorporate making sure that your child’s not only taken care of now but also into their future,” Mares said.
Thanks to a state-wide program called Cal Kids, California children are getting a head start saving for college.
“Every student who was in school in 2022, 2023, if they’re low income, foster youth or homeless they have accounts set up for them. Literal scholarships, savings account set up for them that are up to $1,500 dollars,” said Dr. Jeffrey Hunt for the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools
The accounts are set up by the state treasurer. The problem is few families know about the program.
“There are large numbers of families that don’t know that their kids are eligible for these funds,” Hunt said.
The office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools brought together school and community partners to help spread the word.
“We have one million in the accounts of students in Fresno County but that only covers about 10% of the eligible students so we want to get the word out with our media partners about how easy it is to access these funds,” said Dr. Michele Cantwell-Copher the Superintendent of Fresno County Schools.
Parents are being encouraged to go to the website, to see if their child is eligible.
“We’re having schools work with them because they need their school state identification number and a lot of times that number is accessed through the schools,” Hunt said.
Mares found out about the program through a friend and signed baby Corbin up when he was six months old. She says already having an account encourages her to save more.
“It’s definitely a relief to have the Cal Kids and just be able to kind of have that relief of that something that he can look forward to in the future and hopefully that’s a goal of his is to continue his education,” Mares said.
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