Every public school kindergartner gets $1,000 toward college

A child who starts kindergarten in a New York City public school this year and remains in a participating school for at least 60 days will receive an NYC Scholarship Account with $1,000 allocated on their behalf, unless their family opts out. Most charter schools take part too. The previous scholarship was $100, so this is a tenfold increase.

NYC Kids RISE owns and manages the scholarship money and invests it in New York’s 529 Direct Plan, where its value can rise or fall until the child is ready for education after high school. The money can go toward a four-year college, community college, vocational school, or eligible apprenticeship program. Families do not need to apply or contribute money. They can open a separate connected savings account of their own, and businesses and organizations can add money for groups of students through community scholarships. Families of this year’s kindergartners can activate and view their child’s scholarship account starting in January 2027.

NYC Kids RISE began as a pilot in Community School District 30 in 2017 and expanded citywide in the 2021–22 school year. The larger scholarship came out of the fiscal year 2027 budget deal between Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the City Council. Council Speaker Julie Menin proposed the $1,000 scholarship in February 2026 and made the expansion a priority in budget negotiations. Menin said the program could help reduce income inequality and described it as the nation’s largest universal college savings program. The city budgeted about $53 million for the expansion in fiscal 2027.