Alltru CU Celebrates College Kids Program for Local Students

ST. LOUIS, MO (February 14, 2022) – For seven years, the College Kids Program has been automatically opening savings accounts for every incoming kindergartner in the St. Louis City Public and charter school district. Each year, new incoming students are told they have been given access to a college savings account, which when they graduate will help them toward their next step of higher education, setting an expectation from the first day of school that college is within reach. Alltru Credit Union, a founding partner with the College Kids program and the City of St. Louis Office of the Treasurer, has just successfully opened the 20,000th account for the program, which studies have shown, can help build expectations for higher education and positive, lifelong financial habits.

“If seeing is believing, then we’re especially thankful to our partners for giving so generously that our children can believe that college access is achievable”, said City of St. Louis Treasurer, Adam L. Layne. “For every dollar raised, there is a College Kids student that knows they’re one step closer to empowering themselves to own the possibilities for their futures.”

Empirical research from the Assets and Education Initiative has shown that children with $500 or less saved for college, are three times more likely to enroll and four times more likely to graduate. Students in the College Kids program are given an immediate $50 initial deposit from the Office of the St. Louis City Treasurer, and then have opportunities for matching funds, incentives for completing financial education and attendance provided through private fundraising efforts. Students can also make ongoing and automatic deposits into their accounts, and in fact, have saved nearly $300,000 of their own funds in these accounts.

“Alltru works every day to strategically break down barriers to banking so that more families can build sustainable, generational wealth” said Tracy Verner, Community Development Manager at Alltru Credit Union. “From the day we learned about this program in 2014, it was clear to see that College Kids was in alignment with our core values and our mission to create wealth and credit building opportunities in the communities we serve. This program was strategically and thoughtfully designed to elevate the trajectory of all who attend St. Louis Public Schools, and we are dedicated to making sure it will create a path towards financial security for every family in the district. As a St. Louis Public School alum, I am extremely proud of this work and I don’t love any part of my job more than when I am teaching our College Kids about how to save money or helping a parent access a credit building loan.”

Families are supported in this program through ongoing engagement in the schools, with family events at the credit union and financial education opportunities. From the beginning, a secondary goal of the program, beyond providing a tool for college savings, has been to provide accessible wealth building tools and education for the families of St. Louis. Families are offered credit building opportunities and access to checking and savings products.

Christina Cavazos Bennett, City of St. Louis Assistant Treasurer, recently said “Financial education is equivalent to money. Once you have gained the knowledge, it cannot be lost but it can be multiplied, shared, and can help you achieve your goals.” She went on to say, “Our mission is to share the knowledge.”