Boston Saves Provides Financial Boost to BPS Students, Setting them up Future Success

During the 2024-2025 school year, Boston Saves, the City of Boston’s children’s savings account (CSA) program, offered two promotions to give families a financial boost for their child’s future. These incentives were created to increase awareness and encourage families to participate in the program. A joint program of the Center for Working Families and Boston Public Schools (BPS), Boston Saves provides every BPS K2 kindergartner with a CSA seeded with $50. This money can be used to pay for the child’s future college or career training after high school graduation. In addition, Boston Saves motivates families to earn more money for their child(ren) through regular incentives and provides financial education and resources that make saving easier and help families get ahead. Since its launch in 2016, the program has set aside approximately $1,450,000 in seed funding for more than 28,996 students and an additional $352,500 in family-earned incentives.

At the beginning of 2025, the program ran its January promotion for the fourth year, encouraging families of BPS K2-5th graders to log in to the online savings platform. Families who logged in for the first time by month’s end earned an extra $25 for their child’s account. Boston Saves created this incentive to motivate families to take a crucial first step toward unlocking the program’s many benefits. This money, plus the $50 provided in every Boston Saves account and any additional incentives families earn, provides a financial boost to their child's future. This year, 888 BPS families earned a total of $22,200 for their children’s futures through the January promotional offer from Boston Saves.

In Fall 2024, Boston Saves collaborated with the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) to support eligible BPS students living in BHA housing through a special incentive. Together, they conducted a lottery offering eligible families an additional $500 for their Boston Saves accounts. This incentive was created to encourage students who are living in BHA properties and are also eligible for Boston Saves to further engage in the program. Through this partnership, 268 students earned a total of $134,000 in incentives to use for college or career training programs after graduation. A second lottery was held in Spring 2025, resulting in an additional 232 students receiving the incentive for a total of $250,000 in family-earned incentives.

Though these promotions have ended, families are still encouraged to log into their accounts and take advantage of the program and future incentives. All K2-5th-grade students in BPS have Boston Saves accounts. When families log into the Savings Center, they can:

1. See the money in their child’s Boston Saves account
2. Link their financial account to the Savings Center to track all their savings for their child in one place
3. Earn more money for their child’s Boston Saves account by taking simple steps like reading with their child or saving regularly in their own account 

Families of students in select older grades may also have accounts if they were part of the Boston Saves pilot program or joined a pilot cohort. Families with eligible children should have received an email from bostonsaves@boston.gov with a direct link to log into their child’s account. Parents/guardians who believe their child is eligible but did not receive an email can contact the Boston Saves team at bostonsaves@boston.gov with their child’s name, grade, and school. To learn more about the program, visit boston.gov/boston-saves.