Surprising News About Kids and College

Our friends at Yahoo! ran an excellent and interesting story this week about the one money habit that many kids who go to college have in common.

This may sound crazy and trivial but a new report by the College Savings Initiative shows that kids who have a savings account in their own name are six times more likely to attend college than their peers who do not have one.

Dr. William Elliott, a University of Kansas Professor explains, " we found they were six times more likely to attend college shortly after graduating high school if they had a savings account at a younger age. So if they had a savings account between ages 12 and 15, it was predictive of them attending college later in life."

He continues saying, " that the balances in the accounts were low -- on average, somewhere around $400. Not anywhere near enough to pay for college, or even a few textbooks"
So, this is not an issue of them being more likely to attend college because it was paid for by an account started when they were a child. Rather, this was an issue of them being much more likely to attend because of financial ambition instilled in them at a young age.

Helping your kids understand financial control gives them foresight and a sense of a future to be working towards, much the same way going to college does. So, get out there and start them an account today- many banks have great kids account plans with no minimum balances etc.