Mt. Vernon schools held a breakfast and presentation recently to celebrate starting 529 college savings accounts to get a head-start on saving for college.
FORTVILLE — Five-year-old Rosie MacDonald wrapped her tiny hands around the edges of the 4-foot-long check she had just been awarded, and she grinned.
The Mt. Comfort Elementary kindergartner was among six students who won $250 checks as part of an enrollment incentive campaign to promote the 529 College Savings fund within all four Hancock County school districts.
The randomly drawn students and their parents gathered at a breakfast hosted by Promise Indiana at the Mt. Vernon schools administration building Thursday, Feb. 16, to celebrate getting a head start on college savings through Indiana’s CollegeChoice 529 savings plan.
“This is a wonderful incentive to get kids excited about going to college. Education is the key to the world, and we all need to do our part,” said Rosie’s grandmother, Manna Gilbert, who drove from Anderson to attend the breakfast.
Having put all three of her adult children through college, Gilbert knows a thing or two about the expense of higher education.
“They didn’t have a (college savings) program like this until my youngest was in school. It would have helped tremendously to have gotten a head start,” she said.
Scott Shipley, a Mt. Vernon administrator who leads the Hancock County chapter for Promise Indiana, talked to parents about how getting a jump on a child’s college savings — from as early as birth — can make a huge impact on future success.
“I want to start with why we have a local chapter of Promise Indiana. Our ‘why’ is the young people seated at these tables,” said Shipley, director of curriculum for Mt. Vernon schools.
“Research shows that when children have a savings account in their name, they are seven times more likely to attend college,” he said.
“Children with $500 or less are three times more likely to enroll in college and four times more likely to graduate,” said Shipley, to illustrate that it’s not always how much parents save, but that they save at all, that can spark a child’s interest in postsecondary education.
“It’s not about a big amount of money in a child’s savings account. It’s about getting a family to start talking about the fact that we’re saving for college when a child is very, very young — four and five years old — versus a freshman or sophomore in high school,” he said.
Promise Indiana — a program of the Indiana Youth Institute — gives every child the opportunity to sign up for a free college savings account.
“We should have 100% of our kids signed up. I’m sad to say we don’t, but excited about the number we do have,” said Shipley. “Having a college savings account increases hope for our young people, and hope predicts academic success after graduation better than grades and test scores do.
Sarah Greulich, principal at Harris Elementary School in Greenfield, frequently sends reminders to parents to consider signing up for the program.
“It’s such a great opportunity for our families to get a jump-start on that long-range goal for their kids,” she said.
Shipley said those ongoing reminders are the nudge some parents need to take action.
“Every year without doubt I get at least one parent who says, ‘Thank you for doing this. I’ve been wanting to set up a savings account and this prompted me to do it,’ just because they got an email from their school encouraging them to sign up.”
Shipley thanked local sponsors like Greenfield Banking Co., Hancock Health and NineStar Connect for supporting the Promise Indiana program in Hancock County, which sponsored the $250 scholarships to help kick-start the 529 accounts for the six kindergartners honored Thursday.
The students were selected in a random drawing among kindergartners whose families started 529 accounts this school year.
The boys and girls grinned as they received their oversized checks, which stood as tall as them.
“I think this program is fantastic,” said Rosie’s mom, Joan Siders, who recently sent two stepsons off to college after they graduated from Mt. Vernon High School last spring.
Siders expressed thanks for Promise Indiana Hancock County’s support in helping her family save for Rosie’s college tuition, even though her daughter won’t graduate until 2035.
“It’s important to start early,” said Siders, who also has a 1-year-old son.
Philip Maurizi, who directs the Promise Indiana program, thanked parents for taking the initiative to get a jump-start on saving for their children’s education.
“We can’t emphasize enough how important that is,” he said.
The Promise Indiana program supports families and youth in more ways than one, he said, by not only promoting early savings but also helping students participate in college and career activities and introducing them to college campuses.
According to its website, the Indiana Youth Institute has worked for over 20 years to improve postsecondary success for all Hoosier children through college and career initiatives that ensure students have a clear and attainable pathway after high school.
Maurizi said nearly 1,100 students have received a $25 sign-up incentive by signing up for the Promise Indiana program since its inception in July 2017 while nearly 400 families have received a $25 match by contributing to their students’ 529 accounts during that time frame.
Hancock County ranks fifth among the highest rate of children with 529 accounts in the state, at a rate of 387 for every 1,000 children. The top rate goes to Wabash County with a rate of 588 per 1,000 children.
Maurizi said sponsor donations and enrollment incentives have accounted for $90,000 in account contributions since Promise Indiana was launched in July 2017.
For more information on the program, visit PromiseIndiana.org.
