LAWRENCE, Kan., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- Just setting up a college fund for a young child, results in parents saving more and expecting their child will do well in college, U.S. researchers say.
Since 2000, Deborah Adams, William Elliott, Edward Scanlon and Toni Johnson of the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare worked with community organizations and schools to start child development accounts for low- to moderate-income children in 11 sites nationwide.
The program Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship and Downpayment was designed to test the efficacy of asset-building accounts, the researchers said.
"The idea behind asset building is helping low-income families into the financial mainstream," Adams said in a statement. "It takes both income and assets to build financial security, but for too long we've acted like that doesn't matter for poor people."
Community organizations would deposit $500 to $1,000 in the students' accounts to start and some offered matching contributions to a certain level for parental deposits for the first four years, the study said.
The researchers found that when money is set aside for college, families save more, find creative ways to save even when money is tight and view attending college as a more realistic possibility.
The study, published in the American Journal of Education, found policies, such as child development accounts that help parents and youth accumulate savings -- especially savings for college -- might increase college attendance and graduation completion rates.
