Essay
HF 2908 (SF 3120), if passed, would create a statewide savings account for all eligible children of Minnesota, designated for their pursuit of a higher education. When a child is born, the parents must request that a MinneKIDS account be made by the commissioner. Money would be put in the account either by a MinnKIDS affiliate, in the form of grant money, or through seed deposits, which is any financial contribution to the account besides money received from the grant. This account will be owned by the state of Minnesota until it is used to pay for higher education. Contributions to the account may still be made by third parties by becoming a MinneKIDS affiliate.
If this bill were to be passed, every child in Minnesota would have an account and a small amount of money promised to them for any sort of secondary education. The account would eliminate the need for parents to manually research and open an account for their children. Lower income families specifically would be put at an advantage because often times, an account is not opened because there is no money to put in the account. However, in the circumstance of the bill being passed, there would be automatically an account made for the child with a small amount of money, $100, in it to keep it open. This money, even though not close to being able to cover even the fraction of a college tuition, would build interest. Families can contribute to the account if they wish, and if a circumstance arises where another type of third party would like to contribute to the account, they may do so through the commissioner. Essentially, the state is giving each child in Minnesota a very small allowance to encourage education past high school. The bill is motivated by research done through the Children and Youth Services Review, which analyzed small dollar saving accounts in relation to children’s college outcomes. Children who have saved specifically for postsecondary education are three times more likely to attend college, while children who had 500 dollars or less in an account set aside for college were four times more likely to graduate (Elliott et al., 2013). Additionally, the bill is written to encourage local engagement to the contributions to further stimulate the economy and invest in an educated future for the people of Minnesota.
The opening of a large amount of college funds, even with a small amount of money, for every child born in Minnesota, would be considerable. The budget would need to be reallocated or expanded to add 50 or 100 dollars to about 68,603 accounts, which is the amount of children born in Minnesota in the year 2017, the most recent year of data available (MN State Demographic Center, 2025). The bill does not suggest any tax increase would be needed to do this because of the dependence the bill has on local engagement. There is also the matter of managing these accounts. The responsibility would be given to the Commissioner of Minnesota. It is possible that more staff would be needed to help manage these accounts, which will likely need frequent attention if the accounts are active. Essentially, the downsides of this bill largely are the question of maintenance and budgeting. The plan itself is very thought through and very well may work, but there are certain paths the administration could take if implemented that may cause it to fail or be less effective.
Elliott, W., Song, H., & Nam, I. (2013). Small-dollar children’s savings accounts and children’s college outcomes by Income Level. Children and Youth Services Review, 35(3), 560–571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2012.12.003
MN State Demographic Center. (2025, June 5). Data by topic - births & fertility. https://mn.gov/admin/demography/data-by-topic/births-fertility/
Mohr, J. (2023, March 23). House bill aims to “make a big difference” with education savings accounts for all MN Newborns. House bill aims to “make a big difference” with education savings accounts for all MN newborns - Session Daily - Minnesota House of Representatives. https://www.house.mn.gov/sessiondaily/Story/17856#:~:text=Any%20funds%20not%20used%20before,or%20don’t%20understand%20it.
Youthprise. (2025, March 26). MinneKIDS. https://youthprise.org/minnekids/