Although they were just born, Rowan Vang and Hanna Heggeseth have already made history in St. Paul.
Rowan was born to Mary and Chee Vang at 4:25 a.m. at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Hanna, born to Brianna and Paul Heggeseth, arrived about an hour later, at 5:38 a.m. Beyond being two of the first babies born in St. Paul on New Year’s Day, because Rowan and Hanna’s families live in St. Paul, the babies are officially the first recipients of municipal college savings accounts through a new citywide program, College Bound St. Paul, that launched with the start of 2020.
Just a few hours after the babies were born, St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter stopped in at the Regions Hospital Birth Center on Wednesday morning to meet the families and share the good news.
“Have you heard of College Bound St. Paul before?” Carter asked the Vangs as they sat in a hospital bed, Rowan asleep in his mother’s arms.
“No,” said Mary Vang.
“We’re going to start every child born in our city with $50 in a college savings account,” the mayor explained. “So that Rowan — from the time he can talk, from the time he can walk, from the time he can crawl — will know that one, he has a bright future ahead of him, and two, that he has a whole community around him that’s literally invested in his success.”
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In addition to packets of information, the mayor also presented both the newborns with onesies that state “I’m a CollegeBound Saint Paul Baby.”
“It’s a blessing,” Mary Vang said of the gift.
The Vangs are already experienced at saving for college — Rowan’s siblings, ages 3, 7 and 11, do have established college savings accounts, the Vangs said. Down the hall, Hanna’s mother certainly knows that college is worth saving for, and not only because she and her spouse have experience saving for their older daughter, 4-year-old Maren.
“I’m a college professor,” said Brianna Heggeseth, who teaches statistics at Macalester College in St. Paul. “It is something that is important to me, to make sure that all kids get the opportunity.”
In the atrium of Regions Hospital, a group of dignitaries agreed, including state representatives Dave Pinto and Kaohly Her, both DFL, representing St. Paul.
“The State of Minnesota is providing support for this,” Pinto said of the savings program, “recognizing we need to get every child in our state off to a great start. And so part of the state funding is to have the city of St. Paul figure out how this can go statewide.”
Her reminisced about her own 1991 college fund.
“I had just $1,000,” she said.
Still, the fund held great value.
“For me, that signified that college was the only option for me,” said Her.
Now, “I wanted to make sure that every child in St. Paul had the same opportunity that I did,” she said. “It was such an honor to carry the bill.”
The mayor, wearing a St. Paul sweatshirt, beamed on Wednesday as he talked about preparation for this 2020 launch — preparation that involved city staff working with state officials as well as community partners such as local hospitals and St. Paul-based Bremer Bank.
“We have been working in St. Paul for the past two years … to build this large community partnership that says we believe in our children in St. Paul so much that we’re going to start every child born in St. Paul with $50 in a college savings account,” Carter said. “Research shows us that children from low and moderate incomes who have more than $1 set aside for college savings when they graduate from high school are three times more likely to go to college.”
Through this new program, offered through the city’s Office of Financial Empowerment, every child born in 2020 or later who either lives in St. Paul or moves to the city by age 6 will receive a savings account at Bremer Bank with a $50 seed deposit.
The low-interest Bremer accounts have been criticized for being less lucrative than the state’s 529 College Savings Plan, but they’re intended to be more accessible to residents with limited knowledge of financial products.
Families can contribute to the funds and watch them grow over time with the child. The mission of College Bound Saint Paul is to improve higher-education access to all families and increase college attainment for all youth — beginning with Rowan and Hanna.
FYI
For more information about this savings program, visit Collegeboundstp.com, email collegebound@ci.stpaul.mn.us or call 651-266-8829.
Frederick Melo contributed to this report.
