Keystone Scholars: PA Treasury Funds Early Scholarship Accounts for all PA children

The Need

Child care challenges are often framed as a linear problem—parents need care so they can work, employers need workers so they can operate. However, it is best viewed as a cyclical issue: today’s child care needs affect tomorrow’s workforce, and tomorrow’s workforce shapes the stability of families and communities. By partnering with employers to lay the framework for a post-secondary education early in a child’s life, Pennsylvania Treasury aims to help break the cycle. When families feel supported in both their immediate child care needs and their child’s long-term educational future, employees are more present and productive, children are more likely to thrive and aspire to higher education, and employers benefit from a stronger, more reliable talent pipeline.

In Pennsylvania, families have a unique advantage for setting the stage for post-secondary education. Through the Keystone Scholars program, the Pennsylvania Treasury provides a $100 scholarship account for every child born to a Pennsylvania family since 2019. This seed money is dedicated to the child’s future post-high school education or training and grows alongside the child. Keystone Scholars is more than an account, it’s a catalyst. Research shows that simply having a post-secondary education savings account changes the way parents and children think about the future. Even a modest start improves the likelihood that children will enroll in, and graduate from post-secondary programs.

 

Why Now?

In recent years, the Pennsylvania Treasury has seen increased collaborations with employers across the commonwealth seeking new strategies for attracting and retaining talent as well as seeding the skilled workforce of tomorrow.

Many have found the Keystone Scholars program (and the complementary PA 529 College & Career Savings Program) to be value-added components of their employee benefits packages. Incorporating the programs is easy, costs nothing, and has wide-reaching impact.

For Parents: Peace of Mind and Empowerment

• Keystone Scholars gives every family—regardless of income—a head start, signaling that their child’s future is valued.
• Parents who know that there is already money set aside for their child’s education experience less stress and greater motivation to keep building on that foundation.
• Families become more engaged in their child’s learning, more likely to adopt healthy financial habits, and more confident that higher education is within reach.

For Children: Raised Expectations and Greater Success

• The scholarship from Keystone Scholars tells a child that “someone believes in you.” That confidence fuels motivation and resilience.
• Students with education savings -- even as little as $100 -- are more likely to see themselves achieving a post-high school education, and they perform better academically.
• The psychological effect is as important as the financial one and children grow up expecting to pursue education beyond high school.

For Employers: A Stronger Workforce Pipeline

• Employers benefit when today’s children grow into tomorrow’s skilled, job-ready workers.
• Communities where families plan early produce graduates with higher completion rates, ensuring a deeper pool of talent across industries.
• By investing in families at birth, Pennsylvania is investing in a future workforce prepared to meet the demands of a changing economy.

How It’s Done

Parents can claim their child’s scholarship account by visiting pa.529.com/keystone. They’ll need the child’s date of birth, zip code and birth certificate number. They will then create login credentials to gain access to the account for future planning. Parents may also choose to open and link a PA 529 College and Career Savings Plan account. 

In Pennsylvania, businesses that make matching contributions to their employees' PA 529 College and Career Savings accounts are eligible for a state tax credit. Collaborating with employers to incorporate Keystone Scholars into an employee benefits package creates more awareness, increased participation and greater value in the employer-employee relationship.

 

How It’s Funded

Keystone Scholars accounts are funded through surplus earnings from the PA 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan administered by the Pennsylvania Treasury, ensuring long-term sustainability without impacting the state budget -- the program uses no taxpayer dollars.

 

The Innovators

The Pennsylvania Treasury has administered the Keystone Scholars program since 2019. Treasury piloted the program in six counties in 2018 and worked with the General Assembly to introduce legislation allowing for a statewide program. Act 42 of 2018 passed with considerable bipartisan support and is a testament to the effectiveness of the early research and outreach that went into launching the pilot. Pennsylvania is the first state in the nation to have a legislated universal, automatic, at-birth children’s savings account program. The program was designed based on research and best practices from the Center for Social Development at Washington University. Treasury continues to innovate and provide leadership on early wealth building accounts at the national level.

 

The Impact

As of August 31, 2025, Pennsylvania has created over 810,000 Keystone Scholars scholarship accounts with assets totaling over $84.5 million. More than 11 percent of families have claimed their child’s accounts, and of those who have claimed, 30 precent have linked a PA 529 account and have saved more than $165 million for their child’s education. Additionally, over $900,000 in supplementary deposits have been allocated to targeted families in Pennsylvania's Women Infants and Children (WIC) Program.

 

Get Involved

Employers interested in learning more about the program and ways to leverage it for the benefit of your workforce should contact Karen McDermott, Manager, Children’s Savings Accounts at kmcdermott@patreasury.gov.