Many CSF members saw double digit increases in 529 gifting in 2024
Washington, DC, November 19 – 65% of parents across the country will ask friends or family to make a contribution to their child’s 529 plan for this holiday season and major events, reports the College Savings Foundation’s (CSF) in releasing its annual list of 529 gifting programs offered by its members. The data point stems from CSF’s 2024 State of Higher Education survey of 1,000 parents across the country, and represents an increase from 45% in the 2023 survey.
The 2024 survey also showed that the majority of parents, 55%, are knowledgeable about gifting, aware that they can ask anyone for 529 gifts, up from 36% in 2023. Further, numerous CSF members report significant increases in 529 gifting – through customized gifting portals, gift codes, e-gift cards, registries, crowdfunding apps and others.
“We at College Savings Foundation are thrilled to learn how enthusiastic parents are for 529 gifting programs. Not only is this a smart and strategic way to help education savings to grow, but it also demonstrates to children from a young age just how important it is to work towards a long-term goal,” said Chris McGee, Chair of CSF, a nonprofit helping families save for education for a lifetime.
CSF Members saw roughly $650 million in gifts in 2023 and more than $550 million in the first three quarters of 2024.
Learn more about the more than 40 gifting programs offered by CSF Member Gifting Programs along with accessible information on how parents can use them. Many programs saw double digit gains in 2024, with examples below:
Parents can learn more about 529 plans as well as how to open a 529 at https://collegesavingsfoundation.org/open-a-529/
CSF members have implemented numerous ways to make gifting easier:
Alaska 529 and T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan, managed by T. Rowe Price, provides account owners with the Ugift® gifting program where friends and family can easily send a gift by secure electronic transfer using a unique Ugift code or by mail. Account owners can share the Ugift code via email, social media or on printed party invitation inclusions. The T. Rowe Price College Savings Plan gifting programs have seen consistent YOY growth, with a 43% increase YOY in Q2 2024. Alaska 529 gifting programs have seen consistent YOY growth, with a 78% increase YOY in Q2 2024.
Backer is a venture-backed fintech company modernizing 529 plans. Since its debut in 2017, Backer’s consumer savings app has helped more than 250,000 parents and children save a projected $500 million for education, with 40% of the savings coming from family and friends. In late 2022, Backer partnered with the State of North Carolina to launch an embedded 529 gifting platform, which has since processed over $10 million in gifts—with more than half made via credit/debit card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay.
BlackRock CollegeAdvantage Advisor 529 Plan provides friends and family with the opportunity to contribute to accounts electronically through a gifting page created by the account owner, by ordering a gift card through a financial advisor or by mail in a gift contribution form.
ScholarShare 529, California’s official college savings plan, participates in Ugift® which allows account holders to establish a gifting portal profile and share it with friends and family by email or social media. ScholarShare 529 has received gifting contributions of $71 million YTD as of 9/30/24, which is a 40% increase over the same time period of 2023.
CollegeBound 529 offered by Invesco for Rhode Island, enables family and friends to contribute to a child’s CollegeBound 529 account using a Ugift® code specific to the account’s beneficiary at the Ugift 529.com site.
Colorado’s CollegeInvest® makes it easy for friends and family to contribute to your child’s college savings fund. Ugift® is a free-to-use service that enables anyone to contribute to your Direct Portfolio, Scholars Choice, Smart Choice and Stable Value Plus account at any time. Account owners receive a unique code for each Beneficiary and each 529 savings account which can be shared via email, text, or social media. Friends and family can use this code to give a meaningful gift for your child’s future. Ugift even offers simple instructions that you can include with graduation announcements or birthday party invitations. These plans have seen a double digit increase for the first three quarters of 2024 versus the same period of 2023.
Scholars Choice Education Savings Plan® (Colorado – home state – available nationwide), managed by TIAA/Nuveen, offers Ugift®, the free crowdfunding/gifting service that invites family and friends to celebrate milestones with gift contributions to the Scholars Choice 529 accounts. Gift givers can manage multiple gift contributions and gifting requests can also be posted on social media. Contributions increased by 79% in the first three quarters of 2024 versus the same period of 2023.
Fidelity-managed gifting programs include UNIQUE College Investing Plan; MEFA U. Fund College Investing Plan; AZ529 Arizona’s Education Savings Plan; DE529 Delaware Education Investing Plan, and The Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET) 529 College Savings Program. The total gifting contributions were up 47% for the year ending September 30, 2024 vs the same period in 2023. Families can set up a dashboard at https://www.fidelity.com/529Gift, which includes a personalized page where family and friends can visit to give a gift to your 529.
Franklin Templeton: Franklin Templeton is transitioning its 529 gifting platform to Ugift this November. Ugift is an easy, free-to-use service that lets 529 plan account owners encourage family and friends to celebrate children’s milestones with the gift of college savings. Account owners receive a unique Ugift code for each beneficiary/student, which can be shared with others and used to contribute at Ugift529.com. Ugift offers the option for gift givers to create a profile allowing them to save their banking information and frequently used Ugift codes, view their gift history, and even set up recurring gifts. Franklin Templeton’s gifting program grew by 27% in numbers of gifts and 29% in amounts gifted YOY, ending September 2024, with the biggest uptick during giving season at year end, and enthusiasm among grandparents including repeat gifts.
Georgia’s Path2College 529 Plan gifting program allows friends and family to use a Ugift® code at any time to easily make gift contributions. Account owners can share the Ugift code via email, social media or printed party invitation inclusions. It has grown in contributions by 35% for the three quarters ending September 30, 2024 versus the same period of 2023.
Gift of College: Beyond offering a first-of-its-kind gift card which is redeemable into most any 529, ABLE, and student loan accounts and available online at giftofcollege.com, Walmart.com and in-store at retailers such as CVS, Gift of College has a notable presence in many workplaces as well. Gift of College continues to see a growing number of employers of all sizes offering 529 gift cards to employees to welcome new babies and for a wide range of work milestones as a financial wellness benefit.
IAdvisor, Iowa’s Advisor-Sold College Saving Plan, makes engaging loved ones to help with the gift of education easy, through its Online Gifting Platform. This gifting platform allows Account Owners to establish a gifting page that can be shared with family, friends, and others via email or social media with a customized link. Downloadable gift card certificates are also available on the IAdvisor website for gift givers to recognize their contribution. The gifting platform has seen tremendous success, with activity typically spiking in April during tax time and in December for the holiday seasons.
Illinois Bright Start 529 College Savings Plan: Bright Start converted to TIAA on September 27, opening the door for their account owners’ friends and family to utilize the Ugift® program. In the first month, over $3.6 million was contributed to Bright Start accounts through the gifting platform. Parents can share the Ugift code using Ugift’s email, Facebook, Twitter, or printed invitations.
Indiana529 Savings Plans make gifting easy with Ugift®. Account owners share a unique gifting code that allows friends and family to make one-time or recurring contributions for holidays and special occasions.
Kansas’ Learning Quest® 529 Education Savings Program and Schwab 529 Education Plan offer gifting options through Ugift®.
The Maryland College Investment Plan, managed by T. Rowe Price, provides account owners with the Ugift® gifting program where friends and family can easily send a gift by secure electronic transfer using a unique Ugift code or by mail. Account owners can share the Ugift code via email, social media or on printed party invitation inclusions. The Maryland College Investment Plan’s gifting programs have seen consistent YOY growth, with a 69% increase YOY in Q2 2024.
The MEFA U.Fund 529 College Investing Plan. The U.Fund saw an overall 37% increase in U.Fund gifting through the first three quarters of 2024 vs. the same timeframe in 2023. The U.Fund typically sees an uptick during the holiday season, with significant activity in the month of December. New this year, MEFA has partnered with Gift of College to offer the U.Fund Gift of College Card, which is available at CVS stores across Massachusetts and can be redeemed at giftofcollege.com. Learn more about redeeming the gift card here. Gift-givers are also invited to contribute to an existing U.Fund account by accessing the recipient’s online gifting page. MEFA offers a wealth of information to families about gifting options, including recent podcast episodes about how much families are saving for college, as well as an episode highlighting a student’s success story with her 529 college savings account. MEFA also offers articles to assist consumers through the process of establishing a U.Fund college gifting dashboard, as well as offering guidance on how to ask families and friends to give the gift of college savings on special occasions. https://www.mefa.org/collegegift
Michigan Education Savings Program® (MESP) and the MI529 Advisor Plan, managed by TIAA/Nuveen, offers Ugift® and downloadable gift certificates. MESP is up 30% in gifting contributions YTD for the first three quarters of 2024 ending Sept 30, 2024 versus the same time period of 2023. MI529 Advisor saw an increase of 70% for the same time period in 2024 versus 2023.
Minnesota 529 College Savings Plan: This gifting program allows friends and family to use a Ugift® code at any time to easily make gift contributions at Ugift529.com. Additionally, parents can share the Ugift code using Ugift’s email, Facebook, Twitter, or printed invitations. MNSAVES (Minnesota 529 College Savings Plan) is seeing sustained multi-year and monthly double-digit growth in its gifting program, with a 42% YOY increase over the first three quarters of 2024 versus the same period of 2023.
Nebraska’s NEST 529 Direct and Advisor College Savings Plans offer GiftED in which the account owner can send out online GiftED invitations for holidays, birthdays or other special occasions. Contributors can contribute online or mail their contributions in directly and download gift cards and certificates to notify the beneficiary. The GiftED platform provides the gift history to the account owner online including the date and amount of any contributions as well as the contributor’s name. Contributions made through GiftED are received year-round. There is increased activity during the holiday season (December/January) as well as a slight uptick around tax-time (April).
New Mexico’s The Education Plan® and Scholar’s Edge®, both offered nationally, offer online access to gifting through Ugift® which provides a unique gift code to account owners to share with friends and family to invite them to give a gift contribution at any time through a one-time or recurring contribution. There is a gifting section on the website with downloadable gift coupons for holidays or special occasions as well as suggestions for how parents can broach the conversation with others about gift contributions to a 529 plan and a short video about how to accept gifts into your 529 account. The ReadySave 529 mobile app offered by The Education Plan also makes it easy to invite friends and family to help give savings a boost. In the last four years, both plans have experienced significant increases in gifting. The Education Plan has seen an increase of 39% (YTD January 1, 2024 – September 30, 2024 versus the same period in 2023); and an increase of 22% for Scholar’s Edge for the same period.
New York’s 529 College Savings Program Direct Plan and New York’s 529 Advisor-Guided College Savings Program utilize the Ugift® a simple, secure way to invite family and friends to help your children save for higher education by giving them the gift that keeps on giving—contributions to their account.
Ohio 529, Collegeadvantage offers a variety of resources for grandparents and others to open or add to a 529 plan. Ohio 529 offers 529 Gift Central, a one-stop resource for gifting with Ugift®, greeting cards for holidays, birthdays and other special occasions, and other content specifically for grandparents. Gifting contributions for the total year ending June 30, 2024 were up 23% from the same period ending June 30, 2023.
Oklahoma 529 College Saving Plan. This gifting program allows friends and family to use a Ugift® code at any time to easily make gift contributions at Ugift529.com. Additionally, parents can share the Ugift code using Ugift’s email, Facebook, Twitter, or printed invitations. Oklahoma 529 is seeing sustained multi-year growth in its gifting program and has experienced a 27% YOY increase for the first three quarters of 2024 versus the same time period of 2023 in gift contributions.
Oregon College Savings Plan, managed by Vestwell, allows families and friends the opportunity to contribute toward a child’s college savings for special occasions like birthdays, holidays or simply just because. Loved ones can use a personalized gifting page to send a contribution with a greeting card or give by connecting a BottleDrop account to an existing OCSP account, allowing year-round contributions through recycling cans and bottles.
PA 529 College and Career Savings Program. Saving isn’t just for parents – grandparents and others can give the gift of education with Ugift®, a free online service that allows parents to invite family and friends to contribute to a child’s PA 529 account for a birthday, holiday, or other special occasion. The PA 529 Investment Plan was up 19.31% for the full year from 2022 to 2023.
Private College 529 Plan makes gifting easy year-round. Parents and other account owners can use the eGifting feature to invite family and friends to contribute. Visit their 529 gifting page for details and see important info for grandparents.
The Texas College Savings Plan and The LoneStar 529 Plan platform allows family and friends to contribute to a child’s 529 plan via ACH or check, with personalized email invitations sent by the account owner. All three programs—Texas College Savings Plan, LoneStar529 Plan, and Texas Tuition Promise Fund—offer online downloadable gift coupons and notify the family of the gift.
Utah’s my529 makes it easy for family and friends to contribute funds toward a child’s future qualified higher education expenses. Account owners share a unique gifting code that allows friends and family to make contributions for holidays and special occasions and can contribute online at gift.my529.org. my529 began accepting debit cards on its gifting platform in October 2023. YOY gifting increased 40% from October 1 2023 – September 30 2024. December is the highest gifting month accounting for 25% of the annual contributions. Account beneficiaries six years old and younger received 60% of the gifts.
Virginia529 family and friends can access a Gift Center for digital gift cards, get co-branded gift cards available at Walmart.com or participating CVS locations, or download gift certificates for a variety of occasions from its website. Non-account holding gift givers can contribute through a secure ID that allows for social sharing. Invest529 had a 30% increase in gifting contributions year to date versus the same period last year, with an average transaction size of $306.
Washington College Savings Plans (WA529). Family and friends can choose from various gifting choices to contribute towards a child’s college savings with Washington’s DreamAhead College Investment Plan. Loved ones can use a personalized gifting page to suggest a gift using E-pay or online gift vouchers, send a personalized message via DreamAhead’s Gift Messaging Service, or share a gift invitation through the mail. It saw a 18% increase dollar amounts YOY in Q1 – Q3 2024 versus Q1-Q3 2023, and 24% in the number of gift contributions for the same periods.
Washington State Guaranteed Education Tuition program (GET) provides an online gifting platform with which account owners can invite friends or family to contribute a gift. Giftors can create an online profile to give gifts and track gifting activity to multiple beneficiaries.It saw a 14% increase dollar amounts YOY in Q1 – Q3 2024 versus Q1-Q3 2023, and 11% in the number of gift contributions for the same periods.
Edvest 529, Wisconsin direct-sold college savings plan, allows family and friends to contribute to a child’s Edvest 529 account using the Ugift® platform. Account owners can easily share a beneficiary’s Ugift code via email template, text message, social media, or printed/digital party invitations. Gift givers can even download a gift certificate from the Ugift website to symbolize their contribution. Edvest 529 has seen a 40% YOY increase for the first three quarters of 2024 versus 2023 in Ugift contributions.
Tomorrow’s Scholar®, Wisconsin’s Advisor-Sold College Saving Plan, makes engaging loved ones to help with the gift of education easy, through its Online Gifting Platform. This gifting platform allows Account Owners to establish a gifting page that can be shared with family, friends, and others via email or social media with a customized link. Downloadable gift card certificates are also available on the Tomorrow’s Scholar website for gift givers to recognize their contribution. The gifting platform has seen tremendous success, with activity typically spiking in April during tax time and in December for the holiday seasons.
The College Savings Foundation (CSF)is a Washington, D.C.- based not-for-profit organization helping American families achieve their education savings goals. www.collegesavingsfoundation.org