WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) reintroduced legislation to help low-income and at-risk students access and complete a college education. The American Dream Accounts Act would authorize the Department of Education to award three-year competitive grants to support innovative and comprehensive partnerships that support low-income students in preparation for a college education.

“If America wants to remain a leader in the global market, we must provide opportunities for our students to access and complete higher education,” Senator Coons said. “College not only keeps our nation competitive, but can also provide a ladder to the middle class by preparing our students for good-quality, high-paying jobs. American Dream Accounts are a way to strengthen the ability of teachers, parents, mentors, and students to work together to make sure that young people — throughout their entire educational experience — prepare for, save for, train for, and then fulfill a vision for their own future.”

“Children and their families today face many hurdles when considering higher education options, and help can be hard to come by for some,” Senator Rubio said.  “By facilitating the establishment of American Dream Accounts, this bill would fill a necessary void in services provided to students and their families through personalized online dashboards for college readiness and the help of college savings accounts. These tools would provide the assistance individuals are looking for when considering their options for postsecondary education.”

Endorsed by the Delaware PTA, the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, $tand by Me, and the Rodel Foundation of Delaware, the American Dream Accounts Act encourages partnerships among schools, colleges, non-profits and businesses to develop secure, Web-based student accounts that contain information about academic preparedness, financial literacy and high-impact mentoring and would be tied to a college savings account. Instead of approaching these threads independently, this bill connects students, parents and teachers across silos, and takes a small but significant step toward helping more at-risk students of all income levels access, afford and complete a college education.  

Andrea Levere, President of the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), said “I applaud Senator Coons and Senator Rubio for coming together to introduce the bipartisan American Dream Accounts Act, a bill that will increase children’s savings in Delaware, Florida, and every other state in the nation. We know that low- and moderate-income children with even less than $500 in a savings account are three times more likely enter college and four times more likely to graduate. The bill introduced by Senators Coons and Rubio will spur innovation in a children’s savings field that is raising aspirations and boosting economic opportunity throughout America.” Opportunity Nation, a bipartisan national campaign comprised of more than 300 businesses, educational institutions, nonprofits and civic organizations working together to expand economic mobility, applauded the introduction, saying " The American Dream Accounts Act is a significant bipartisan step forward toward providing low-income students with the resources and support they need for education and training that positions them for success in today's economy. At a time of intense partisanship in Washington, it is more critical than ever to highlight moments of cooperation and success that bring us closer to our goal of expanding opportunity for more Americans.” 

The American Dream Accounts Act authorizes the Department of Education to award three-year competitive grants to local partnerships that:

  • Create personal online accounts for low-income students that monitor higher education readiness and include a college savings account.  These “American Dream Accounts” would stay with students from school to school and through college. Parents would grant vested stakeholders (including counselors, teachers, coaches, mentors, and others) access to the account to update student information, monitor progress, and provide college preparatory support.
  • Open college savings accounts for students. Every ADA would include a college savings account for each student. Grantees that can provide these accounts with seed money would be prioritized.
  • Support college readiness by securely monitoring students’ progress online. Academic and behavioral information, including grades and course selections, progress reports, and attendance and disciplinary records would be available for review in an ADA, which would also provide opportunities to gain financial literacy, prepare for college enrollment, and identify skills and career interests.
  • Collect data about effective ways to assist high-risk students in planning for college through a comprehensive monitoring and reporting system.
  • Cost nothing. Funding would come from existing Department of Education funds.

American Dream Accounts can help close the high school graduation gap by giving students motivation and support early on, including the knowledge that scholarships, Pell and SEED grants will be there to support them after high school. 

Senators Coons and Rubio first introduced the American Dream Accounts Act in March 2012. In addition to the Delaware PTA, the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, $tand by Me, and the Rodel Foundation of Delaware, the bill has also been endorsed by the National Parent Teacher Association, the “I Have a Dream” Foundation, Opportunity Nation, the Corporation for Enterprise Development, Jobs for the Future, and the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships.

The legislation can be downloaded here as a PDF:
http://coons.senate.gov/download/dream-accounts-legislation

A white paper on the American Dream Accounts Act can be downloaded as a PDF here:
http://coons.senate.gov/download/dream-accounts-white-paper