CollegeBound Saint Paul

Program Description: 

Launched in January 2020, CollegeBound Saint Paul is the first citywide, automatic college savings account program to begin at birth. CollegeBound is a Universal College Savings Account (CSA) program for children who reside in St. Paul born since January 1, 2020. Beyond growing financial assets, CollegeBound also intentionally structures incentives for participants to connect with other social programs that benefit the family’s financial health and general well-being, while boosting their children’s savings accounts. A $50 seed deposit provided by the city and any additional deposits, either made by family members or incentive bonuses, accumulate and can be used to pay for postsecondary education, job training, or other career supports after high school.  

The Mayor of St. Paul introduced CollegeBound Saint Paul as a new program in January 2018. By December, a 31-member Task Force, that later grew to 60, began its work, with subgroups working on different aspects of program development. The Task Force included representatives from government, the philanthropic and financial sectors, education professionals, and community organizations. This work also led to the establishment of the Office of Financial Empowerment (OFE), the home for the program. 

The Task Force decided on key program features supported by research: universal eligibility, with automatic and opt-in enrollment options; structuring the funds as custodial savings accounts released only upon graduation; $50 seed funding invested immediately upon opening the account, with bonus incentives and specified allowable uses of funds; and community engagement and ownership as central to the program model.  

Community Ambassadors facilitate effective local outreach and CollegeBound works closely with community organizations that are aware of local needs. About half of St. Paul’s population is made up of communities of color, with a large immigrant population. To serve this diverse population, regular communication, outreach, and supports are multi-lingual and culturally relevant.  

Funding for the program initially came from the city and the state, which provided grants and staffing. Now, the program has engaged philanthropies and corporations, including the Bush, McNight, and Kresge Foundations and 3M, Ecolab and Target, which provide the majority of the funds needed. The program is seeking multiyear commitments to reach a $35 million goal by 2060 for program sustainability. 

CollegeBound expanded significantly in 2024, with two new staff members and beginning a partnership with the Saint Paul Public Schools. CollegeBound intends to work with families of children in grades K-5, integrating financial literacy activities into the school day. 

How It Works:

CollegeBound Saint Paul uses public data from birth records to identify and enroll the bulk of its participants, with no application or documentation needed to enter the program. Additional efforts are taken to reach the 40 percent of eligible participants not in public birth records, either due to a longstanding Minnesota law or having moved to the city after birth. Once eligible children are of school age, CollegeBound staff use enrollment records to reach out to the full set of possible participants, including elementary school peers for the earliest birth cohort.  

OFE connects City Hall, community partners, philanthropists, and participating families. It is responsible for day-to-day management and broader strategic efforts, coordinating the public-private community partnerships, integrating family participant voices through Community Ambassadors, attending meetings, and making connections with local stakeholders.  

To reach eligible participants across the city’s racial, ethnic, linguistic, and socio-economic diversity, especially in communities that historically or currently face disinvestment, the program works with local partners including early childhood education programs and immigrant-serving agencies (e.g., CLUES and the Karen Organization of Minnesota). Outreach also occurs at the local center for the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), Head Start, and the Saint Paul Public Library system. These programs include CollegeBound in their own intakes, distribute materials, and/or connect parents to OFE staff. 

CollegeBound Community Ambassadors, instituted from the beginning, are 25 community members who each receive a monthly stipend. Run as a cohort model, with a one-year commitment that can be renewed for up to three years, around three-fourths are parents of CollegeBound children and as a group speak over 10 languages. Community Ambassadors connect City Hall and the communities served; from event outreach to policy meetings, Ambassadors act as trusted liaisons to the community. Ambassadors speak from experience as they engage peer-to-peer with families, dispel myths, and create trust that the program is not “too good to be true.”  

The program’s incentive bonuses add financially to the accounts and engage participants in the program and other valuable activities. There are $10, $25, and $50 empowerment bonuses for over 20 activities, including logging into the account for the first time, receiving financial counseling, attending a family event at school, and participating in a well-baby check-up. These bonuses increase engagement with trusted local partner organizations, with minimal administrative burden for the local programs. 

The custodial accounts are owned by the city and the children are beneficiaries. At age 18, a participant can request the funds, whether for tuition at a two-year or four-year higher education institution, vocational training, to start a business, or any other approved postsecondary path. Unlike 529 accounts, the participant has access to a bank to make deposits. The participants earn interest on the deposits they make, which is also incentivized. Other deposit interest is used to fund the incentive bonuses, and most funding for the seed and bonus deposits has come from robust private sector support. 

Impact:

While the long-term effects of CollegeBound will not be known for many years, high quality research about the effectiveness of this kind of program suggests that even small college savings accounts can have significant impacts. Studies show that $500 in savings results in high school graduates from low- to moderate-income homes being three times more likely to pursue college and four times more likely to graduate from college.  

The research also shows that this type of program increases children’s ability to see themselves as potential college students and parents’ expectations for their children. CollegeBound leaders also hear anecdotally from families that learning about this program made them feel more hopeful for their children’s futures.  

By 2023, three years after launch, 9,500 babies were enrolled in the program, or about 72 percent of newborns. In 2026, there were 21,000 accounts open with a total of almost $4 million collectively saved; of these 21,000 enrolled participants, over half engaged with the program, claiming a bonus or interacting with their account.  

CollegeBound sees high turnout for its many community events. Each summer it hosts Money Action Day, a large resource fair. With up to 400 people attending, the event includes as many as 20 community partners offering financial and health resources. CollegeBound offers three Deposit Days at the bank each year, with a $25 incentive bonus given for a family deposit of $1 or more, engaging about 100 families each time. In 2026, as many as 40 families attended a library story hour related to financial health, including a table with resources on the subject.  

The program is working with the University of Michigan’s Center for Assets, Education and Inclusion for extensive long-term research on the program’s outcomes. A report about CollegeBound published in September 2025, based on interviews and archival materials, documents the program and its outcomes to date. The city’s strong tradition of cross-sector collaboration, with a supportive philanthropic sector that values equity and economic empowerment for all, is cited in the report as vital to the program’s success. The report also indicates the school system is ready for its expanded role. Per the researchers, these strengths suggest success relies on having an ongoing and informed collaboration of local partners, the vision to leverage multiple funding sources creatively, and raising up family and community voices at each point in the process of developing and delivering the program.