The US values education quite a bit (I suspect other places do too, but I can only speak for US experience), and there's a long history of rewarding children wi

The US values education quite a bit (I suspect other places do too, but I can only speak for US experience), and there's a long history of rewarding children with educational funds for all kinds of things. This is very commonplace. As to why it's commonplace, well, if the family can afford to send the kid to college, then this is basically the same as giving them cash, since the family now gets to do what they want with the money they would have spent on his college. And if they couldn't afford to send him to college, now they can (or now they have a bit more help with it, depending on how much money was given). It looks good for the company too, since no one (except possibly you) thinks giving a kid an educational fund is a bad thing. Finally, by having such an educational stipulation, it hopefully prevents the parents (or legal guardians) from spending or wasting it on other things so that the kid ultimately reaps the benefits, which I think is prudent.