Local day-old baby wins $1,529 for college education
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) – Only a day old and a local baby is already saving for college. This morning, the Path2College 529 Plan awarded $1,529 to the first baby born May 29 in the Piedmont Columbus Regional. The award goes to Carus May Kincaid, who weighs 8 pounds, 5 ounces and was born at 9:11 am on May 29, to start her 529 plan account for education.
“I’m already proud of her,” said new mom Leah Kincaid, 24, as she gazed at the baby in her arms. She noticed that the newborn was already doing great things.
Leah Kincaid and her husband Mark Kincaid, 34, of Smiths Station, Alabama, were both excited to start saving for the future of their first child. Mark Kincaid said he’s grateful her daughter now has “a little head start” with her savings.
Mitch Seabaugh, Executive Director of the Path2College 529 Plan, said: “First of all, it’s a great opportunity, a baby has just been born [which] already set up a college savings plan for her.”
He added that this is also a great opportunity to raise awareness of 529 plans that help families save for their children’s college education from a young age.
Seabaugh also mentioned that a college savings account can affect a child’s likelihood of going to college.
A Study 2013 from Washington University in St. Louis found that children from low- to middle-income families are more than three times more likely to attend college when they have savings ranging from $1 to $499, im Compared to children from similar-income families with no savings. Those who had saved money for college were 4.5 times more likely to graduate than those without.
The managing director pointed out that it is never too late to start saving. He said: “Now is the time to start. There is no better time to do that than now because every dollar saved is at least $1 that you can save towards a potential student loan.”
This is the eighth year that Piedmont Columbus Regional and Path2College 529 Plan have partnered for this initiative on the 529th day, celebrated annually on May 29th.