Riverside County Students Reaping Big Financial Benefits Of Nation’s Largest State-Funded Scholarship Program

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — In 2022, California launched the nation's largest state-funded child development account and higher education scholarship program, and Riverside County educators are leading the way in ensuring local kids receive their money.

The California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program (CalKIDS) is designed to support pathways toward post-secondary education by awarding scholarships and savings accounts to California youth.

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Administered by the ScholarShare Investment Board and chaired by State Treasurer Fiona Ma, CalKIDS automatically awards scholarships worth up to $1,500 to eligible California public school students and up to $175 for all children born in the state on or after July 1, 2022.

To receive CalKIDS money, families can check eligibility and claim an account online through the official CalKIDS website. There are no essays, GPA requirements, or application fees.

In 2024, the Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE) launched an online dashboard tracking CalKIDS scholarship enrollment at all 515 public schools in the county.

According to the dashboard, more than $60 million in CalKIDS scholarships has already been claimed by Riverside County students, with a total of $178 million in future CalKIDS funds designated for students in the county.

RCOE officials say local educators are conducting targeted outreach to increase awareness and drive scholarship claims. The approach has led to multiple schools in Riverside County achieving a 100% CalKIDS scholarship claim rate, and more Riverside County students have claimed CalKIDS funds than those in any other California county, according to RCOE.

Key data points shared by RCOE include:

• Over $178 million in CalKIDS funds is designated for Riverside County students.
• More than $60 million in CalKIDS scholarships has already been claimed by students in Riverside County.
• More than 340,000 of the 430,000 students in Riverside County are eligible to claim CalKIDS accounts.
• Nearly 60% of eligible Riverside County high school students have already claimed CalKIDS accounts. The next highest rate in the state is Monterey County at 34%.
• Despite having one-third as many eligible high school students as Los Angeles County (89,439 to 279,734), more Riverside County students have claimed CalKIDS accounts to help pay for post-secondary goals.
• A total of 19 schools in Riverside County have achieved 100% claim rates for eligible students, including elementary, middle, continuation, and comprehensive high schools.

"With more students claiming CalKIDS accounts than any other county in California, we are proud to be leading the way in ensuring higher education is more accessible than ever to change the trajectories of generations to come," said Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Edwin Gomez.

In addition to the state money, federal dollars await families with newborns. President Donald Trump's 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act created a new type of child savings, "Trump Accounts," with a temporary program of $1,000 payments for each child born during Trump's second presidential term.