Literacy And College Savings Get A Boost
Clients worried about paying for their children‚s college education may be heartened by two recent trends. A growing number of large U.S. companies are tapping their corporate coffers to help families save for college. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill and throughout the nation, there is a surge of political interest in boosting college savings and promoting financial literacy among students.
Recently, a slew of blue-chip businesses–including AT&T, Citigroup and General Motors–teamed with a Brookline, Mass., startup called UPromise in launching a clever way to sock away money for higher-education expenses.
Also, a cadre of 20 well-known organizations, including Merrill Lynch and Eastman Kodak Co., has joined with the U.S. Treasury Department and the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Finance Literacy to debut the first-ever, math-based financial literacy curriculum for the nation‚s middle-school kids. The free curriculum will be available soon in a kit called "Money Math: Lessons for Life."
Under the UPromise program, you buy products and services from various companies with whom you normally do business. Those corporations then contribute anywhere from 1% to 15% of your purchases in a college savings account.
For instance, AT&T will contribute 4% of your residential monthly phone charges. Citibank card holders can receive 1% of their credit card spending, and more than 7,000 restaurants will put 10% of your dining bill into a college savings plan.
"For every million families that enroll, that will generate at least $22 billion of college funding that didn‚t exist–just from company contributions," says UPromise Chief Executive Michael Bronner.
Several influential lawmakers also are touting the need for increased financial literacy and college financing.
For example, Rep. Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota and David Dreier from Southern California have introduced HR-61, which would provide block grants to the education departments in every state. The funds then could be tapped for teacher training, buying curriculum or anything related to personal-finance education. Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., has expressed interest in sponsoring HR-61 in the Senate.
The above was furnished by Dow Jones Financial Advisor News Service. For a free trial, log on to www.fa-mag.com.