With college becoming more and more expensive year after year, it can be extremely beneficial to start saving for college as soon as possible. For some, this may be during a student’s junior and senior year of high school, when college is rapidly approaching, but for others, this might start the day the child is born.
The Nevada Treasurer’s Office offers a range of scholarships and different plans that can help families, and even non-relatives, start saving to help students pay for college.
With the Nevada System of Higher Education assessing that the average cost per college credit in Nevada has risen from $79 in 2002-2003, to $256 per credit in 2022-2023, benefits included with a Nevada Prepaid Tuition Program, like the locking in of the current credit rates, can save students thousands of dollars.
“The Nevada State Treasurer’s Office offers a number of tools and resources to help families plan, pay, and save for post-secondary educations—that’s the goal of all of our programs…I like to think of Nevada Prepaid tuition as a structured savings plan where parents are investing in their child’s future tuition today,” said Tya Mathis-Coleman, Deputy Treasurer of the College Savings Division at the Nevada Treasurer’s Office.
From now until Dec. 31, those enrolling in the Nevada Prepaid Tuition Program can do so for only $0.01 and the Treasurer’s Office will deposit $100—the normal enrollment fee—into a Nevada Sponsored 529 College Savings account.
Mathis-Coleman explained that this program creates a lasting and very meaningful gift opportunity for newborns through ninth grade students as an alternative to toys or other presents this holiday season.
“Instead of giving kids in your life Christmas gifts or holiday and birthday gifts, why not start saving for post-secondary education?”
The savings programs are not only for students looking to stay in their home state for college.
The benefits are nationally transferable to any out-of-state or private university which accepts Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and other benefits include: the ability to be used in conjunction with the Millennium Scholarship and other 529 savings programs, different plans and payment options available to fit a variety of family budgets and timelines, and contracts as low as $39 a month for credit hours at both two-and four-year Nevada public colleges or universities, according to Mathis-Coleman.
“You decide as a family how much you want to save,” said Mathis-Coleman.
Mathis-Coleman also explained that in the event that a student has leftover funds in their savings account, the money can be transferred to another family member, or if the student decides to not to use the money for college, it can be pulled out of the account for very minimal fees. The opportunity to save for life after high school is in and of itself a great benefit.
“We really don’t want to penalize families, especially if you saved for college and your student has gone to college and now you have additional money leftover,” explained Mathis-Coleman.
Tuition will continue to increase, so whether families start saving today or further down the road, the options offered by the Nevada State Treasurer’s Office are valuable to all students.
“Going to college or preparing your student to go to college can be daunting for families and we just want them to know that they’re not in this alone. Our office is here to help them through the journey,” said Mathis-Coleman.
Mathis-Coleman recommends going directly to the College Savings Division website, NVigate.gov, in order to access benefits and talk to a representative to help kickstart a savings plan. For the rural Nevada communities, who do not have the same access to state-wide resources, the Nevada Prepaid Tuition Program could help change lives.
“Sometimes our rural Nevadans miss out on opportunities because they don’t hear about the opportunities…We’re here to help all students,” said Mathis-Coleman.