State Treasurer Announces $5.5 Million in Savings for PA 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan Account Owners

Harrisburg — Treasurer Stacy Garrity recently announced that asset-based fees will be waived for PA 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan (GSP) account owners for the third year in a row. This year’s fee waiver will save families $5.5 million and is funded by PA 529 GSP surplus earnings.

“Waiving these fees makes our fantastic PA 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan even stronger for the families using it to save for their child’s future education,” Treasurer Garrity said. “The PA 529 GSP helps families meet their savings goals no matter what path their child will take in the future, whether that’s career training, an apprenticeship, technical school, community college or a four-year university. For families, this means more money saved for the future, which means less to borrow when a child chooses their path.”

This year’s PA 529 GSP fee waiver went into effect on July 1, 2024, and account owners will not see any asset-based fees on quarterly account statements through June 30, 2025.

Treasurer Garrity has also cut fees multiple times for the Morningstar Gold-Rated PA 529 Investment Plan (IP). In total, fee cuts and waivers for all PA 529 College and Career Savings Program accounts will save families more than $16.5 million by the end of the current fiscal year.

PA 529 accounts are designed to help Pennsylvania families steadily and strategically save for a wide variety of qualifying technical, collegiate, apprenticeship and K-12 educational expenses. There are significant state and federal tax benefits when saving with PA 529, and PA 529 assets do not impact eligibility for Pennsylvania state financial aid.

The PA 529 GSP allows families to save at today’s tuition rates to meet tomorrow’s tuition costs. Account earnings are based on college tuition inflation rates, and families can choose the tuition credit rate they wish to save at from community colleges to Ivy League universities.

The PA 529 IP offers a variety of investment options. Account earnings are dependent upon financial market performance.

PA 529 has been helping families meet their savings goals for more than 30 years. There are more than 300,000 PA 529 accounts, including more than 113,000 PA 529 GSP accounts and more than 187,000 PA 529 IP accounts. Families currently have nearly $8 billion saved for future education expenses.

Source: The Leader-Vindicator