The College Savings Initiative was launched in 2009 as a joint venture of the Asset Building and Education Policy Programs of the New America Foundation and the Center for Social Development (CSD) at Washington University in St. Louis, funded by the Lumina Foundation for Education and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative is centered on helping Americans of all income levels save and prepare for college through innovative reforms to 529 college savings plans at the state and national levels.
The initiative seeks to achieve this through study and promotion of existing inclusive innovations in state-based 529 plans; modernization of existing federal college aid programs, including federal income tax-based aid programs; policy research and design; communications; and policymaker education. Ultimately, it aims to increase post-secondary education access and completion rates among lower-income, disadvantaged students through innovative public policy and other reforms to 529 college savings plans.
This project has its own home on the web at www.collegesavingsinitiative.org.
