It’s never too early to start saving for the future, and Atlanta Public Schools (APS), in partnership with Operation HOPE and the City of Atlanta, is providing a great way for families to get an early start on saving for college or other career opportunities through the Child Savings Account (CSA) program.
“Operation HOPE’s mission is to disrupt long-term financial challenges like debt and poverty in communities around America by financially empowering men, women, and children through financial literacy and opportunity,” Operation HOPE senior vice president of marketing and digital strategy Blair Caffey said. “This partnership is important because it helps give Atlanta’s students a head start in their financial lives and their career and learning goals. Through the HOPE Child Savings program, we hope to see more students attending college or vocational school with little to no debt, and/or use their savings as a seed investment into their entrepreneurial dreams.”
The CSA program allows kindergarten through second grade students at Title 1 schools to open their own bank account and receive a starting balance of $50 on behalf of the City of Atlanta. An additional $10 is added to the account once it is activated by the account holders’ parents or guardians. After the account is activated, the student and family members are able to contribute to the account and build up the savings.
Since the program launched in 2021 with its first cohort of kindergartners, over 7,100 CSA’s with more than $360,000 in deposits have been opened. This year, Operation HOPE is sponsoring a pizza party for the school with the most registered HOPE Child Savings Accounts. This contest ends on March 31, 2024, and the winner will be announced the following day.
“Studies show that students who develop the habit of saving early have a higher probability of retaining the skills into adulthood and developing other positive life-long financial habits, like budgeting and investing,” Caffey said.
A new cohort will get the chance to open their own CSA, so families should be on the lookout for Operation HOPE information packets coming home with their students. The program also offers incentives to help encourage savings. Students can receive incentives for their birthdays or additional deposits into their accounts if their parent or guardian attends an Operation HOPE financial literacy workshop.
The money saved in CSA’s aren’t limited to college expenses, according to APS executive director of the office of student and employment engagement Alpachino Hogue.
“The main objective is to provide a way for families to begin to save for the future,” he said. “If the student decides to forego or delay college and instead wants to start a business or do something that requires a license or additional classes, the funds can be used for those purposes.”
Students with CSA’s do need to stay in APS and graduate from APS for the funds to become available for them to use.
Parents are encouraged to begin their scholar’s financial journey now and prepare them for the future they choose.