Open a GET account before May 31

Parents wanting to save for college have until midnight on May 31 to open a Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) account before the state program closes for this enrollment year. GET is Washington’s 529 college savings plan that 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.

In Washington, more than 160,000 GET accounts have been opened since the program began in 1998. In its 17 years of operation the program has paid out more than $678 million to cover higher education expenses on behalf of 40,000 students attending college in all 50 states and 15 foreign countries. 

“The goal of our program is to increase access to higher education and to make it more affordable, especially at a time when student loan debt in our country is at an all-time high,” said Betty Lochner, Director of the GET program. 

“We are trying to switch the personal financing of college from a debt-driven model to a savings-driven model,” Lochner said.