Coverdell's. Uniform Gift to Minors Act, State 529 Plans, Prepaid Tuition Plans, Independent 529 Plans. It is a real maze out there and making sure one makes the right investment in college tuition plans can be challenging. The focus of this paper will be to discuss one type of college tuition plan the Independent 529 Plan.
The Independent 529 Plan allows individuals to purchase future tuition and mandatory fees for a reduced price today. Currently these plans are accepted at over 220 private Colleges and Universities in the United States. More schools are being added all of the time. There are no sales, enrollment or maintenance fees to participate in these plans. Schools all offer at least .5 percent discount over current charges and many offer even greater discounts.
One of the best benefits of the Independent 529 Plan is that your child is not locked into attending just one school. This is beneficial in that if your child or grandchild wishes to major in a field which is not well represented at your original college then they can switch to another school. Of course the other school may require additional charges but one is not locked into a single college or university. This like others will allow you to roll the funds over to another beneficiary if the original beneficiary does not utilize the plan.
You should be aware that just because you have fully funded the plan to a certain university or college does not guarantee that he or she will gain acceptance into that school. As mentioned earlier the funds can be rolled over to another college or university. Another concern is that with this plan the funds can only be used to pay for tuition and fees. These funds cannot be used to purchase textbooks or room and board.
In order to fully fund the cost of a college education one would need to research further and find ways to fund the other costs associated with school such as room and board, books, etc. The Independent 529 can however serve as an important leg in the funding of your beneficiaries college education.