DUBOIS — Treasurer Stacy Garrity recently toured the campus of Penn Highlands DuBois, including the hospital’s maternity unit, to promote the Keystone Scholars program, which kickstarts every Pennsylvania baby’s education savings with $100.
“Before you know it, the future of our Commonwealth will be in the hands of children being born today,” Garrity said.
“It’s easy to see how much the doctors and nurses in the Penn Highlands maternity unit love the babies in their care and want them to succeed.
“And we know that Keystone Scholars can make a tremendous difference in the lives of children. Research shows that children with even a modest amount in education savings are three times more likely to enroll in higher education, and four times as likely to graduate.”
“We are honored to welcome Treasurer Garrity to our hospital,” said John Sutika, president of Penn Highlands DuBois.
“It is uplifting to know that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is helping the babies born in Penn Highlands DuBois, Penn Highlands Elk and each of the other maternity departments throughout Pennsylvania get a head start on their education savings through the Keystone Scholars Program.”
Keystone Scholars automatically provides $100 to every baby born to a Pennsylvania family on or after January 1, 2019, to be used for that child’s post-secondary education expenses.
The $100 is invested by Treasury and grows alongside the child. Families are encouraged to open their own PA 529 College and Career Savings Program account to continue saving for their child’s future.
Senator Cris Dush, Rep. Mike Armanini and Rep. Tommy Sankey represent the city of DuBois and the surrounding area in the General Assembly.
Although hospital protocols limiting the number of visitors meant they could not join today’s tour, all expressed their support for Keystone Scholars and Penn Highlands DuBois.
“The youth of Pennsylvania is perhaps our greatest commodity,” Dush said. “Any opportunity that parents can invest in their future is not only a positive for them, but also for the state. I encourage new and expecting parents to register for the Keystone Scholars program and start an education savings fund for your child.”
“An investment in our children is an investment in our future,” Armanini said. “As a parent, I can appreciate the proactive approach to teaching young people the value of planning ahead, even before they’re old enough to realize what is being done for them.
“Years from now, they’ll not only understand but hopefully find some way to pay it forward.”
“When it comes to investing in a child’s future, ‘the earlier, the better’ is a great philosophy to follow,” Sankey said. “The Keystone Scholars Program is a tremendous way to introduce children to the subject of financial literacy, even before they realize what money is and has the potential to do.”
Keystone Scholars and PA 529 accounts can be used for qualified higher education expenses, including tuition, fees, computers, required equipment, books and more at vocational or technical schools, qualified apprenticeship programs, community colleges, and four-year colleges or universities in Pennsylvania or even across the country.
Since the program started, nearly 340,000 Keystone Scholars accounts have been created and more than 34,000 families have registered their child’s Keystone Scholars account.
Nearly 21 percent of those who have activated Keystone Scholars accounts have opened their own PA 529 account to continue saving.
So far, these families have saved nearly $23 million. Pennsylvania was the first state to legislate a universal, automatic, at-birth child development account program.
No taxpayer dollars are used for Keystone Scholars, which is funded by surplus funds from the PA 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan. Keystone Scholars accounts can be activated online and linked to PA 529 accounts for easy access.
Penn Highlands DuBois is one of seven hospitals in the Penn Highlands Healthcare system, which also includes Penn Highlands Brookville, Penn Highlands Clearfield, Penn Highlands Elk, Penn Highlands Huntingdon, Penn Highlands Mon Valley, and Penn Highlands Tyrone. Each facility is the largest employer in its community.
To learn more about Keystone Scholars or to activate your child’s account visit pa529.com/keystone.