WA529 College Savings Plans offers two kinds of 529 plans, Investment Savings plans and Prepaid Tuition plans. Families can choose to save with either or both plans and they can be used for qualifying education expenses at nearly any college, university, technical or community colleges in the U.S. and around the world, as well as qualifying apprenticeship programs in the U.S. DreamAhead College Investment Plan, allows you to pick an investment option and save money based on the market’s performance. The Guaranteed Education Tuition Program (GET), allows you to purchase units at a set price and use them in the future to avoid long-term tuition inflation and stock market risk.
Using your GET Account or DreamAhead Account to pay for qualifying expenses is easy. Account owners can request payments to be made directly to the school or pay the qualifying expenses first and request reimbursement from their account. 529 Funds can be used to repay up to $10,000 of existing student loan debt, to learn more about the Secure Act click here.
To pay the school directly:
- GET Account Owners must sign in to your account, find the Using Units section, and you will be guided through the process. Be sure to include the student’s full name on the request. Or if you prefer paper, you can fill out a Direct Payment Request form and submit it to the GET Program.
- DreamAhead Account Owners must sign in to your account, where you can make a withdrawal directly to the school or your bank account. Be sure to include the student’s full name and student ID on the withdrawal form.
- Please allow 2 weeks for payments to be processed. After your payment has been received, the University will apply the funds to the student’s account to pay tuition, fees or housing charges. Since we receive GET funds via a unique process, we will typically have them 2-3 days after the request, but it is always best to request early
Resources
For more information about your 529 account or if you have further questions about how to make a payment, please contact the appropriate program.