In 2011, San Francisco opened savings accounts for kindergartners — now they’re going to be college freshmen

Even though more students feel priced out of college entirely, there are efforts to improve access to higher education that seem to be working.

In 2011, San Francisco made headlines when it became the first city in the nation to kick off a college savings account with $50 for every child entering kindergarten in the public school system.

Now those students are about to enter college.

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Yadira Saavedra, 17, is one of the more than 600 students from San Francisco who will start college with financial assistance from the Kindergarten to College, or K2C, savings program.

Her parents saved $2,200 in a universal children’s savings account, which helped change her perspective about getting a degree, she said.

“My family has always pushed me to go to college, but I felt bad,” Saavedra added. “I didn’t really know how much college cost; I just knew it was a lot of money.”

This fall, she is an incoming freshman at the University of California, Davis. She plans to study archeology or sociology.

To pay the tab, Saavedra will rely on a combination of resources, she said, including the savings and need-based aid. “It means hope for me that I’m able to go to college, and I’m very proud of that.”

“These accounts have made a difference,” said José Cisneros, San Francisco’s treasurer.

College affordability is an ongoing problem.

Tuition and fees have more than doubled in 20 years, reaching $10,940 at four-year, in-state public colleges, on average, in the 2022-23 academic year. At four-year private colleges, it now costs $39,400 annually, according to the College Board, which tracks trends in college pricing and student aid.

When adding in other expenses, the total tab can be more than $70,000 a year for undergraduates at some private colleges or…