Tuition program enrollment ends May 31

Parents wanting to save for college have until midnight on May 31 to open a Guaranteed Education Tuition account before the state program closes for this enrollment year.

Washington’s GET program provides the opportunity for families with young children to start a college saving account with the state’s 529 prepaid tuition plan. The program can be used at nearly any public or private university, community college or technical school in the country.

The college savings plan is guaranteed by law to keep pace with tuition at the state’s highest-priced public university. The program provides tax-free growth and withdrawals for qualified higher education expenses.

Since GET’s inception in 1998, more than 160,000 GET accounts have been established. Student distributions have surpassed $678 million.

The GET fund is now valued at nearly $3 billion. For the first time since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008, the program’s funded status has been at or above 100 percent, meaning it is expected to meet all of its financial obligations for current enrollees.

Find details, charts and planning tools at www.get.wa.gov. Accounts can be opened online. For questions, call 800-955-2318 or visit GETInfo@wsac.wa.gov.