Today, Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter announced a $3 million grant from the Bush Foundation to support CollegeBound Saint Paul, the City’s college savings account program.
Part of the CollegeBound Saint Paul Fund for the Future effort to secure $35 million to permanently sustain the program, this grant will support new college savings accounts, as well as support Saint Paul’s Office of Financial Empowerment in partnering with researchers at the University of Michigan under Professor William Elliott, a nation-leading expert on children’s college savings, to further evaluate the impact of CollegeBound in our community.
“This announcement brings us one step closer to our dream of making CollegeBound Saint Paul a permanent fixture in our community,” said Mayor Carter. “I am enormously grateful that the Bush Foundation believes in our children enough to make this game changing investment.”
“Cities are labs of innovation for democracy,” said Jen Ford Reedy, President of the Bush Foundation. “CollegeBound Saint Paul is a great example for the way government can develop, test, and spread great ideas to solve community problems.”
“Saint Paul’s demographics reflect the future of our nation – a rich tapestry of many different cultures and languages,” said Professor William Elliott. “The nation will be looking for the solutions and impact coming out of the Saint Paul model.”
“There is no greater return-on-investment than supporting the futures of children in our community,” said Craig Leipold, owner of the Minnesota Wild and co-chair of the CollegeBound Saint Paul Fund for the Future. “This investment is remarkable and we invite more community partners to join in to fund the future of Saint Paul children.”
