If your school is already participating and you want to register your child click here.
Student Savers are priceless!
Research shows "Kids with a savings account in their own name are 6 times more likely to go to college" http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22227.aspx Helping kids make regular deposits into their savings accounts puts them on the fast track to a post-high school education and empowers them with hope for their future.
Why school banking?
As incredible as it seems, "tweens" ages 7-12 spend almost $1500 annually on requests for approximately 3000 different products and services. Their buying power is a staggering 40-50 billion dollars per year. While most of the country is in recession, allowances for this group of 21 million young Americans have doubled. And 90 percent of them are online where temptation to spend is limitless.*
Unfortunately, most "tweens" have not learned to save as 30 percent of high school seniors and 78 percent of college students have credit cards with an average balance of $2800. In one Western state the average age for a bankruptcy is 24.
Saving is a timeless American virtue, but it requires, discipline, dedication and opportunity. Specifically children need regular, weekly opportunities to make deposits into their savings account if they are to acquire the savings habit. Most parents do not have time to take their children to the bank each week to make a small deposit. School banking provides that regular opportunity.
In 1985 School Savings was evaluated and approved as a national financial literacy education model by the U.S. Department of Education for ALL students in grades K-8. Participating in School Savings helps students meet state education requirements in math including:
- Uses numbers and computation,
- Reasons logically and
- Connects school mathematics to real-life situations
In addition to its deposit collection activities, the program includes an online savings register for students to use in reconciling their bank statement. An animated savings goal-setting tool provides students and parents the opportunity to save together for a special event or purchase. A pre-post test geared to grades 4-8 students tests their knowledge of savings mechanics and benefits. These products can be accessed under the My Students tab after registration.
How can my child participate?
Any child can participate if our school banking program is active at your school. You will also need to open a checking or savings account at any bank or credit union if your child does not have one. Youth savings accounts are free at most financial institutions and they do pay interest. To find out if the program is at your child’s school, click Get My School Started and search for your school.
Once you have a bank account for your child, you need to register him/her for banking. First register yourself at www.schoolsavings.com by clicking Sign Up! in the upper right hand corner of the page. Upon registration, you will be logged in and may add your child under the My Students tab. Copies of your child’s deposit receipts will be emailed to the address you entered during registration.
How can I start a school banking program?
If our school banking program is not at your child’s school, you contact the principal or Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) to see if they would like to participate.
Download our Presentation Kit and ask that a School Savings program be added to the agenda of your next PTO meeting. The school will need to provide a computer and an internet connection. The program is generally managed by the PTO. Banking takes place once a week usually before school or during lunch break.
Recognition
In recognition of its role in promoting financial literacy, School Savings and/or its partner Save For America have received support or approval from the following organizations. In 1995, it also received the National Savings Award from CSIA as Best Community Partner.
- U.S. Department of Education
- The White House 1991 (President George H. Bush)
- The Federal Reserve – San Francisco Branch; U.S. Department of Treasury
- National Association of Elementary School Principals
- National Press Club
- National Association of School Directors
- Governors and Cabinets of Eight States Including Texas and Florida
- Twenty-four State Treasurers
- American Bankers Association, Forty State Banking Associations
- Community Bankers Association
Research on Saving
SEED Results
“We have evidence that if there is savings and assets in the household, particularly if the savings are in the child’s name, controlling for other features, that children will do better,” says Michael Sherraden, PhD, director of the CSD. “They will have better educational attainment, and are more likely to do well in high school, attend college and graduate from college.”
Lessons from SEED, a National Demonstration of Child Development Accounts. September 2010. Editors: Michael Sherraden & Julia Stevens
In an April 2009 speech at Georgetown University, President Barack Obama said:
We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand. We must build our house upon a rock. We must lay a new foundation for growth and prosperity: a foundation that will move us from an era of borrow and spend to one where we save and invest.
“…savings are positively associated with educational aspirations and achievement, including post-secondary degree completion.” (Elliott & Beverly, 2010; Zhan & Sherraden, 2009, 2010).