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JUDY WOODRUFF: As we discussed 
with Senator Bernie Sanders, 
college debt is a huge problem

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in our country.

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Roughly two-thirds of 
students finish school 
owing nearly $30,000.

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Sanders is not alone in his 
call for free public college.

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Many of the 2020 presidential 
candidates have started 
laying out their own plans.

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As those ideas take shape, a 
number of states and cities 
are creating their own plans to

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provide grants and money 
for the very youngest 
to ensure that they can 
eventually go to college.

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Hari Sreenivasan has the story 
for tonight's Making the Grade.

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And it's part of a special 
series on Tuesdays this month 
about Rethinking College.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: Just days' 
old, this newborn has already 
started saving for college.

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Under a new Pennsylvania 
program, every baby 
born or adopted in the 
state is given a college

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savings account with 
$100 in his or her name.

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JOE TORSELLA, Pennsylvania 
State Treasurer: That $100 is 
invested in our 529 account,

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and will grow over time.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: So 
140,000 kids a year are 
born in Pennsylvania?

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JOE TORSELLA: Yes.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: The 
accounts are the brainchild 
of Pennsylvania State 
Treasurer Joe Torsella.

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The new program, called 
Keystone Scholars, is an effort 
to help future students cope

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with skyrocketing 
costs of college.

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JOE TORSELLA: Over roughly 30 
years, the cost of higher ed has 
gone up in this country around

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300 percent, while the 
median family income has 
basically not budged .

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HARI SREENIVASAN: According 
to the Federal Reserve Bank of 
New York, Americans owe $1.46

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trillion in student debt.

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Treasurer Torsella says 
Pennsylvania student debt burden 
is particularly troubling.

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JOE TORSELLA: I love my state.

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I'm a proud Pennsylvania.

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And I love it when I can say 
we're number one, except when 
the thing we're number one

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in is college debt.

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We currently lead 
the nation in that.

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Our average graduate 
has about $36,000.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: Born January 
18, Charlie Ross (ph) was one 
of the first babies to benefit

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from the statewide program.

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Kristin Dressler 
is Charlie's mom.

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KRISTIN DRESSLER, Mother: It 
was something I wish my parents 
had done for me when I was,

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like, a baby.

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And I think it's a 
really good idea.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: Pennsylvania 
is betting that parents 
will be less likely to delay

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saving for college if 
accounts are automatically 
created at birth.

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JOE TORSELLA: There is a 
time when a child is born you 
always remember for the sense

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of magic and possibility.

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Life quickly takes over, 
with all kinds of demands.

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We wanted to do something 
at that moment when 
people are looking at 
their newborn or their

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newly adopted child, and 
they had the widest horizon 
and the widest sense 
of those possibilities.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: Dressler 
took out a loan to pay for 
her first two years of college

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and will take out more 
to complete her degree.

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She wants an easier path 
for her son's education.

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KRISTIN DRESSLER: I'm 
hoping that he doesn't 
have to worry about that.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: But 
if the average debt 
load in Pennsylvania 
for college graduates

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is $33,000, can $100 
really make a difference?

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JOE TORSELLA: That 
$100 grows to $400.

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And if they deposit $25 a month 
from the time that child's born 
in an account with it, they

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will have more than $10,000 by 
that time that child reaches 18.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: Pennsylvania's 
new accounts are funded through 
surplus earnings from the

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state's existing 
529 college program.

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Like all 529 accounts, the money 
is earmarked for education.

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If an individual wants to use 
the funds for other purposes, 
they face tax consequences,

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and any money the state 
contributed is returned 
to a general fund.

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Pennsylvania is not alone.

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Plans to help families save 
for college are popping 
up across the country.

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In San Francisco, every child 
when they enter public school 
gets a new bank account with

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$50 in it.

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So far, they have opened 
more than 33,000 accounts in 
their kindergarten-to-college

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program.

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JOYCE MELOCOTON, Teacher: 
Are you guys excited 
for your field trip?

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STUDENTS: Yes!

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JOYCE MELOCOTON: Where 
are we going again?

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STUDENTS: The bank.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: At 
San Francisco's William 
Cobb Elementary School, 
teacher Joyce Melocoton

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prepares her kindergarten class 
for a field trip to the bank.

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JOYCE MELOCOTON: We're going 
to the bank because you have 
to deposit money for what?

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STUDENTS: College.

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JOYCE MELOCOTON: College.

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OK.

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And if you start saving 
now, then you will 
be ready for college.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: On 
this day, kindergarten 
students were joined by 
San Francisco Treasurer

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Jose Cisneros at Citibank, 
a partner in the program.

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JOSE CISNEROS, San 
Francisco Treasurer: We 
put $50 in your account.

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You already have money saved 
for your college education.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: Fifty dollars 
is not much, but Treasurer 
Cisneros says creating an early

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perception about going to 
college is just as important 
as creating actual wealth.

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JOSE CISNEROS: What matters 
less is how much money is in 
the account and -- or what the

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income of the family is.

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It's all about building 
aspirations in the 
student's mind and making 
sure they know this

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is an option that is 
available for them.

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STUDENT: I would like 
to make a deposit.

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JOSE CISNEROS: To my 
college savings account.

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STUDENT: To my college 
savings account.

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JOSE CISNEROS: You need 
to give her the money 
and the deposit ticket.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: Half of 
San Francisco's public school 
students come from low-income

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families.

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And while all students receive 
an account, Cisneros hopes to 
engage families less likely

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to attend college.

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JOSE CISNEROS: Just engaging 
with that account, going to the 
bank, making deposits, talking

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about it at home, maybe talking 
about it with friends, sends a 
signal that says, oh, I have

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got a college savings account.

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Why?

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Because I'm going to college.

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And for many kids who don't 
have that in their childhood, 
that kind of conversation, that

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kind of influence, it turns 
out not being something they 
think is available to them.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: But so 
far, only 20 percent of 
families in San Francisco 
have made additional

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deposits in their child's 
kindergarten-to-college 
accounts.

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Professor Brigitte Madrian is 
an expert on family savings 
and the dean of Brigham Young

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University Marriott 
School of Business.

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BRIGITTE MADRIAN, Dean, Brigham 
Young University Marriott School 
of Business: Parents who are

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actually contributing money is 
pretty low, so it's going to 
take more than just automatic.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: Madrian says 
automatic savings accounts, set 
up for things like retirement,

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have been hugely successful 
when tied to payroll deductions.

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But she's less confident that 
automatic college accounts will 
be work when families are asked

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to make contributions 
on their own.

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BRIGITTE MADRIAN: Households 
have a lot of things for which 
they probably should be saving,

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and short-term financial needs 
may be taking precedence over 
longer-term needs, like saving

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for your children's college.

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MAN: Can anybody say 
safe deposit box?

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HARI SREENIVASAN: The annual 
cost of San Francisco's 
program is three quarters 
of a million dollars.

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BRIGITTE MADRIAN: Is it more 
cost-effective to direct those 
same financial resources that

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are coming from government to 
early kindergarten readiness 
programs, smaller class sizes in

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K-12?

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Which one gives you more 
bang for the buck I think is 
still a very open question.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: As 
for the William Cobb 
Elementary students, 
the most popular future

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career cited on this 
field trip, superhero.

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WOMAN: So what do you want 
to be when you grow up?

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STUDENT: A superhero.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: Six-year-old 
Xavier Ochoa said he wants to 
be Batman when he grows up,

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but he also got the 
message of the day.

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JOSE CISNEROS: I would 
like to make a deposit.

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XAVIER OCHOA, Student: I 
would like to make a deposit.

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JOSE CISNEROS: In my 
college savings account.

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XAVIER OCHOA: In my 
college savings account.

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JOSE CISNEROS: 
Here's your receipt.

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OK.

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Say thank you.

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XAVIER OCHOA: Thank you.

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I want to get money for college, 
so I can learn more things, 
and so you can learn when

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you want to grow up.

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HARI SREENIVASAN: For the "PBS 
NewsHour," I'm Hari Sreenivasan.