Enrollment is open for Washington’s GET program

Olympia—Washington State’s GET program is now open for a new enrollment period, providing families a fresh opportunity to start saving for future college costs while their children are young. The 2019-2020 enrollment period runs through May 31, 2020, with a unit purchase price of $121.

As a 529 prepaid tuition program, the state of Washington guarantees that a family’s GET savings will keep pace with in-state tuition and state-mandated fees. While GET account values keep pace with in-state tuition, beneficiaries have the freedom to follow their ambitions wherever they choose, as GET can be used at nearly any public or private university, community college, or technical school in the country.

The Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program opened in 1998, and since then, thousands of Washington families have saved billions of dollars to go towards their students’ future higher education expenses. To date, GET has distributed over $1.2 billion to more than 55,000 students who have used their GET accounts to attend college in all 50 states and 15 countries worldwide.

The GET program is one of two college savings options offered by Washington College Savings Plans (WA529). WA529 also opened the DreamAhead College Investment Plan in 2018 to offer additional flexibility for families as they plan for the costs of college. Families who want to start their college savings today may want to compare the features of these two plans to decide which savings approach, or mix of approaches, best fits their situation, timeline, and goals.

“Families often ask us when they should start saving for future college costs,” says Washington College Savings Plans director, Luke Minor. “Our response is simple: ‘It’s never too early to get started.’”

GET's website offers details, charts, planning tools and answers for questions that families may have about the program. Washington residents who want to help a student save for future education costs can open a GET account online with no enrollment fee. The GET Contact Center staff is ready to help at (800) 955-2318 or GETInfo@wsac.wa.gov.

About the GET Program

The Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program is Washington’s 529 prepaid tuition program that helps families save today for future college costs. The program offers a guarantee that is tied to in-state tuition prices and is backed by state law. It also offers tax benefits, flexible payments and a nationwide choice of colleges. 

GET, along with the DreamAhead College Investment Plan, a market-based 529 plan, represent Washington College Savings Plans (WA529). The Washington Student Achievement Council administers GET while the Washington State Investment Board oversees its investments. The Committee on Advanced Tuition Payment and College Savings governs the program.

Find out more about both plans at WaState529.wa.gov.