529 plans offer benefits for college savers: the University of Alaska College Savings Plan is a 529 plan that delivers a full spectrum of exceptional benefits--whether your child chooses to attend a UA campus or almost any other college, university or technical school in the United States.

• Jurisdiction: United States
• Date: 01 October 2003
• Author: Frisk, Travis C.

When your friends complain about how much college costs, believe them.

In case they haven't mentioned it, a year of college costs about as much as a new car these days, a very nice car if we're talking about many of the colleges attended by Alaskans. The costs of a college education in Alaska are comparable to those elsewhere. College costs are rising faster than inflation, up 40 percent over the past decade.

Below are figures for annual college costs based on current figures for tuition, room, board and incidentals, as compared to what they are projected to be in 2015 (picture a 6-year-old)--at an 8 percent inflation rate. (The 2015 college costs were calculated using the University of Alaska College Savings Plan's College Investment Calculator. Costs within the calculator are formulated using the Monte Carlo Simulator.)

Most students will have to borrow some funds for college, but they and their families can reduce that amount through planned, and often tax-deferred, college savings accounts, including 529 plans and Coverdell Education Savings accounts (ESAs, formerly education IRAs). One of the more popular choices today is the 529 plan, an investment operated by individual states to help families save for college-related...