General Information

Pennsylvania 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan logo

Pennsylvania 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan

In the Pennsylvania 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan, Pennsylvania residents acquire units that increase in value over time to track average tuition increases in one of several school categories as selected by the participant. The ability to switch categories retroactively makes this a flexible option to lock in tuition no matter which particular college the beneficiary attends. Accounts can be linked to the Upromise rewards service.

Our Ratingx

Fee Scorex

4 of 5

Performancex

N/A

  • Program typeGuaranteed savings
  • Enrollment periodOpen year-round. Price change each year on September 1.
  • Inception1993
  • State agency
    Pennsylvania State Treasury Department
  • Tax deduction

Ratings & Rankings

Our overall rating for PA residents

This is an excellent program with many benefits for the participant and positive investment attributes. If it has any significant weaknesses then it also has some particularly good things to recommend it.

Our overall rating for non-residents

This program is not open to you either because it has residency requirements or because it has stopped accepting new enrollments.

Savingforcollege.com's 5-Cap Ratings provides an evaluation and comparison of 529 plans, utilizing a formula that examines dozens of factors grouped into the following categories.

Financial Benefits

4.00

Features

5.00

Safety

4.00

Reliability

4.00

Eligibility

State residency requirements:

Who can be a participant/owner in the program?

Significant time or age restrictions imposed by the program:

Contributions

Maximum contributions:

Minimum contributions:

Contractual Features

Current value of one unit:

Current unit price:

Are program benefits backed by the full faith and credit of the state?

Are program benefits collateralized or guaranteed in any other way?

Fees & Expenses

Enrollment or application fee:

Account maintenance fee:

Taxes and other Benefits

  • Tax deduction for single filers$15,000/yr
  • Tax deduction for joint filers$30,000/yr

Example

Married filing jointly residents contributing $100/month can expect an additional $0 a year in tax savings.

Program match on contributions:

State tax deduction or credit for contributions:

State tax recapture provisions:

State tax treatment of qualified distributions:

State tax treatment of rollovers:

Does the sponsoring state exclude the value of an account for state financial aid purposes?

Does participation in the program provide beneficiaries with any advantages in qualifying for resident tuition status at state institutions?

Is there a rewards program or outside scholarship program that works with this program?

Statutory protection of an account from creditors:

Distributions & Terminations

To whom are distributions made payable:

Account Changes

Policy regarding participant/owner changes:

Documents, Access & Reporting

Does participant have online password-protected access to account?

Can the complete enrollment process including funding be done online?

Contact

Website:

Telephone:

Plan News

Pennsylvania lowers minimum contributions for college savings plans (07/08/2020)

State News

Pennsylvania to offer $100 in college savings to new babies (07/02/2018)
Pennsylvania's Keystone Baby Scholars program opens to all residents  (12/31/2018)