This may change the behavior of young parents. The amount contributed by the state would be based on the amount of savings the parents put away for the child's education each year. This money will be used in the future as a direct payment to a financial institution. I believe this type of incentive would interest a large number of parents who are not currently saving for their children's education. This match is often a percent of the amount saved by an employee up to a certain limit.
Studies find that many employees put money into the program just to get the match.
While investing only for the match may be viewed as shortsighted, it does help solve the long-term problem by funding their retirement. I envision a plan were the match is regressive based on the parents annual income. Those parents in lower income brackets would have a larger match than those in higher income brackets. In all cases the match would be limited to some dollar amount per child per year. This program would be open to all brokerage firms, mutual funds, banks, insurance companies, etc.