Texas § ED.28.0024 - SCHOOL-BASED SAVINGS PROGRAM

§ ED.28.0024. SCHOOL-BASED SAVINGS PROGRAM

SCHOOL-BASED SAVINGS PROGRAM. (a) A school district or open-enrollment charter school may establish a school-based savings program to facilitate increased awareness of the importance of saving for higher education and facilitate personal financial literacy instruction. A district or school may offer the program in conjunction with a personal financial literacy course under Section 28.0021 . (b) A school-based savings program may, through partnerships with appropriate institutions, promote: (1) general savings, by offering savings accounts or certificates of deposit through partner financial institutions; or (2) savings dedicated for higher education, by offering through partner institutions the following accounts or bonds the primary purpose of which must be to pay expenses associated with higher education: (A) an account authorized under Section 529, Internal Revenue Code of 1986; (B) a Coverdell education savings account established under 26 U.S.C. Section 530; (C) a certificate of deposit; (D) a savings account; and (E) a Series I savings bond. (c) A district or school establishing a program under this section: (1) shall seek to establish partnerships with appropriate institutions that are able to offer an account or bond under Subsection (b); and (2) may seek to establish partnerships with public sector partners, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropic organizations in the community. (d) A partnership established under Subsection (c) between a district or school and: (1) an appropriate institution may allow a student in the program or the student and an adult in the student's family jointly to have an opportunity to establish an account or purchase a bond under Subsection (b); and (2) an appropriate institution, public sector partner, private business, or nonprofit or philanthropic organization may provide: (A) a structure for the management of the program; and (B) incentives that encourage contribution to a school-based account or purchase of a bond under Subsection (b), including incentives that provide matching funds or seed funding. Added by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1265 (H.B. 3987 ), Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2015.