Expert Touts Obama College Savings Plan as New Way to ‘American Dream’

Expert Touts Obama College Savings Plan as New Way to ‘American Dream’: WASHINGTON, D.C. – College savings accounts like the ones the Obama administration proposed Thursday represent a “new formula for reaching the American dream,” a leading scholar in the field of children’s savings and college success said.

“The savings accounts “do not teach children to sit at home as some might want to suggest,” said Dr. William Elliott III, assistant professor at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare. “They teach children that effort mixed with societal resources is the new formula for reaching the American dream.”

Through the savings accounts proposed by the Obama administration, 10,000 high school freshmen participating in GEAR UP -– a federal program that helps low-income students prepare for college -- will be given $200 in seed money to start the account, which will be opened by their respective states. The federal government will then match up to $10 per month for four years, enabling the accounts to total $1,160 by the time the students graduate from high school.