Finances

  • Does a 529 hurt or help when it comes to financial aid?

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    By Jodi Golden,
    Director, CollegeChoice 529 Savings Plans
    January 25, 2013

    What’s one of the most important steps you can take in preparing for college? Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA is your first step in applying for over $150 billion in federal financial aid dollars. The FAFSA is an important document that requires personal and financial information. Be prepared to list everything from social security numbers of your students and parents to information on cash, bank accounts or investments the family may hold.

  • Start the Year Fresh… Financially

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    Hon. Richard Mourdock
    Indiana State Treasurer
    January 18, 2013

    Still putting away holiday decorations and the piles of toys your children received for Christmas? Ready for a fresh start to the New Year? And of course, how are you doing with the New Year’s resolutions that were set so purposefully?

  • You Can Afford College!!

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    By Steve Dombrower, CFA<
    Vice President, College Savings Plans
    OppenheimerFunds, Inc., Program Manager for Numerous 529 Plans
    January 4, 2013

    I’ll bet “You Can Afford College” is something you don’t hear very often. More likely than not what you’ve heard about paying for your child’s higher education includes things like continuously rising tuition inflation and adjectives like astronomical or impossible. Perhaps you’ve seen or have been presented with six figure numbers in terms of what you need to save making you feel like you just won’t be able to get there.

  • Best of Both Worlds: How 529 College Savings Plans Complement 529 Prepaid Tuition Plans

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    By Lynne N. Ward
    Executive Director, Utah Educational Savings Plan (UESP)
    November 28, 2012

    One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to saving for college. Your family has unique needs, means, and goals, and your family needs a unique college savings blueprint.

    Fortunately, you have lots of options, especially among 529 plans. Two of those options are 529 Prepaid Tuition Plans and 529 College Savings Plans.

  • THE STATE OF FINANCIAL AID

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    (Part 2 in a Series on the College Board’s 2012 Trends in College Pricing & Trends in Student Aid)
    By Joan Marshall
    Executive Director, College Savings Plans of Maryland
    November 9, 2012

    I am often asked by parents about whether their college savings will reduce their children’s future financial aid. My initial response is that – with student loan debt today surpassing credit card debt – it is generally in a family’s best interests to save whatever amount they can afford for college in order to reduce or maybe even eliminate the need to take on burdensome levels of future student loan debt.

  • Trends in College Pricing

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    (Part 1 in a Series on the College Board’s 2012)
    By Mary Anne Busse
    Managing Director, Great Disclosure LLC
    November 2, 2012

    The College Board recently came out with its 2012 Trends in College Pricing and it’s chock full of great information – some good news and some not so good news. According to the report, published prices for tuition and fees at public four-year colleges and universities increased 4.8%, the smallest since 2000‑01. For prospective college students, that’s great news! Unfortunately, the report also found that “the growth in published prices at public four-year institutions has been higher over the past decade (averaging 5.2% per year beyond inflation) than over either of the two preceding decades.”1

  • 5 Things You May Not Know About Prepaid Tuition Plans

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    (Part 2 in a blog series focusing on prepaid tuition plans)
    By Betty Lochner
    Director, Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET)
    October 15, 2012

    Last week, we introduced you to Prepaid Tuition Plans and gave you some Fun Prepaid Facts. For the next two weeks, we’ll take a closer look at some unique feature of prepaid plans. If your state offers a prepaid tuition plan*, make sure you check out the special features that are offered. If you consider an analogy to retirement plans, Prepaid plans are designed to be a “defined benefit”, as opposed to 529 savings or investment plans which are more like “defined contribution” plans. The defined benefit of a Prepaid plan (which varies by state) may prove to be better or worse than a similar investment in a 529 savings plan, depending upon investment performance and tuition increases during that time.

  • What’s a Prepaid Tuition Plan?

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    (Part 1 in a blog series focusing on prepaid tuition plans)
    By Betty Lochner
    Director, Guaranteed Education Tuition October 5, 2012

    As director of Washington’s Prepaid Tuition Plan, I often hear parents say, “We decided to put our money in a 529 College Savings Plan instead of GET.” To which I always reply, “GET is a 529 college savings plan.”

  • Families Are Saving More Using 529 Plans

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    (Part 2 in a series based on the findings from the 2012 Mid-Year 529 Report)

    By Mary Anne Busse,
    Managing Director, Great Disclosure LLC

    Last week, we reported that data collected as part of our  2012 Mid-Year529 Report indicates that more families are using 529 Plans than ever before. 529 Plan assets reached record amounts as of June 30, 2012 with $179.02 billion invested nationally. This is an 8.6% increase during the first half of 2012. This week, we’ll focus on some other highlights from the report.

    Average Account Size

    The Report shows that as of June 30, 2012, 529 Plan accounts reached an average account balance of $16,298. In 2002, the average account balance was $9,688. Although the increase in savings may be an encouraging number, take a look at some other relevant numbers. The College Board’s Annual Survey of Colleges shows that in-state tuition and fees (including room and board) at public four-year institutions averaged $9,689 in 2002-2003 and $17,131 in 2011-2012.

  • More Families Are Using 529 Plans to Save for Higher Education

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    (Part 1 in a series based on the findings from the 2012 Mid-Year 529 Report)
    By College Savings Plans Network
    September 20, 2012

    Data collected as part of our 2012 Mid-Year 529 Report indicates that more families are using 529 plans than ever before. 529 plan assets reached record amounts as of June 30, 2012 with $179.02 billion invested nationally. This is an 8.6% increase during the first half of 2012.