As your child moves through high school, college planning shifts from a distant goal to an immediate priority. You’re narrowing down potential schools, weighing financial options, and getting a clearer picture of what tuition will actually cost. If a private college or university is in your child’s future, now may be the right time to consider a strategy that locks in tuition rates and protects against rising costs.
Private College 529 Plan lets families prepay and lock in current tuition rates at nearly 300 private colleges and universities, including Duke, Princeton and Stanford. If you’ve been saving in a traditional 529 plan, it’s not too late to take advantage of the benefits of Private College 529 for your high school student. In fact, this may be an ideal time.
How Private College 529 Plan Works
Unlike traditional 529 savings plans, which invest in financial products, Private College 529 works like a tuition guarantee. When you contribute, you’re buying a percentage of a year of tuition at today’s prices at all participating schools at the same time. It’s like paying for tuition if your child was going to college now. The nearly 300 colleges in the plan will honor the percentage of tuition that you locked in no matter how much costs increase, guaranteed.
If you’ve been saving in a traditional 529 plan, you can roll over funds into Private College 529 to take advantage of these benefits. This makes it a great option for families who have a clearer idea of their child’s college plans and want to protect against rising costs and market fluctuations.
Don’t worry. Your prepaid tuition can be used at any college in the plan. You’re not just saving for one school.
Keep in mind that saving in Private College 529 only covers tuition and fees. Therefore, you might want to keep a portion of your savings in a 529 investment account to cover room and board and other eligible expenses and roll the remainder into a Private College 529 account to lock in current tuition and fee rates.
Private College 529 Provides a Strong Hedge Against Inflation
Most age-based portfolios in traditional 529 plans shift toward conservative, low-risk investments as your child nears college. While this helps reduce market risk, it also increases exposure to inflation — meaning your returns might not keep pace with tuition hikes as your child approaches college enrollment.
Private College 529 eliminates this concern. By prepaying tuition, families lock in today’s rates and avoid the risk of tuition inflation. It’s a strategic way to secure predictable costs, so you can focus on college applications rather than financial uncertainty.
Timing Considerations
You’ll have to hold onto your prepaid tuition for at least 36 months after it’s purchased. This means deposits made during a student’s junior or senior year of high school are best suited for the later years of college.
Here’s one strategy to consider for rising high school seniors: The clock on the 36-month hold period begins after the first contribution in a plan year (July 1-June 30). Families could open and fund an account the summer before senior year of high school. Doing so with even a small amount (there is a $25 minimum) would start the clock for that plan year.
If your child decides to attend one of Private College 529’s participating schools, you could make additional contributions before the plan year ends. Since the clock already started, all subsequent contributions in that plan year would backdate to July, meaning you could potentially use funds as early as the fall of junior year of college.
Tuition prices reset each year on July 1st. Contributions made before July 1, 2025, will lock in 2024-2025 tuition rates.
Conclusion
For families with high schoolers, Private College 529 Plan offers a tactical way to reduce risk, control costs, and simplify college financing. By rolling over funds from a traditional 529 plan, parents can take an approach that keeps their child’s education plans flexible — while locking in savings.
If your student is considering private college, now is the time to explore how Private College 529 Plan can help you secure their future at today’s prices.
