Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion

This study explores the relationship between exposure to a community-based Children’s Savings Account program and parents’ educational expectations for their children. Generally, quantitative results suggest that parents are more likely to expect their elementary-school children to attend college if they have a 529 account. While for high-income parents, just being exposed to the Promise Indiana campaign was more closely related to parents’ expectations than actually having a 529 account, overall, exposure is correlated most strongly with parents’ educational expectations when combined with having an account. Furthermore, having an account is even more important among low-income families than exposure alone. Qualitative findings further explore parents’ experiences in Promise Indiana and suggest that most have formed college-saver identities.