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| Owners & Beneficiaries |
| 529 plans have one owner (ex. parent, grandparent, etc.) and one beneficiary (ex. child). If the child does not attend college, the owner can appoint a new beneficiary to an eligible family member of the previous beneficiary (as defined by the IRS). |
| Eligible family members currently include: children, stepchildren, siblings, stepsiblings, parents, stepparents, spouse, niece/nephew, in-laws, biological aunts, uncles, and first cousins. Additionally, the current owner can name any successor owner in case of their demise. |
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| Financial Aid |
| The two types of programs, 529 prepaid plans and 529 savings plans, are treated differently when factored into the financial aid formula methodology. |
| Funds in 529 prepaid plans are viewed as assets of the student and generally reduce the cost of attending college on a dollar-for-dollar basis. This reduction directly lowers the amount of financial aid a student can receive. |
| For parent-owned 529 college savings plans, the funds are treated as assets of the owner. Therefore, only 5.64% of those assets are considered available to pay for college. Assets in grandparent-owned 529 college savings plans don't factor into the financial aid formula. |
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