Prepaid529 Withdrawals

Ready to withdraw funds from your Prepaid529 account?

Once your Prepaid529 contract is paid-in-full, you can request a withdrawal. To check your account status, sign into your online account and view your Account Summary.

When to submit a withdrawal request:

• If the student is attending a school in Virginia, the withdrawal request only needs to be submitted once when the student first enrolls. Virginia529 pays the school automatically each Fall and Spring semester until benefits are exhausted or you stop them.
• If the student attends a school outside of Virginia, a new withdrawal request should be submitted for each Fall and Spring semester.
• Any time benefits are being used for Winter and/or Summer semesters.
• Any time a student changes schools during the academic year.

Submitting a request for the first time or changing schools? To avoid a delay in payment, submit your requests between March 15 and June 1 for the Fall semester or October 15 and December 15 for the Spring semester.

Follow these steps to make a withdrawal

Understanding your payout options

Where your student is attending school determines when payments are made, how you'll receive the funds, and payment amounts. It’s important to review the Prepaid529 Benefits Guide to understand your options. But typically, there are three categories:

Virginia public college or university (two-year or four-year)

What Prepaid529 covers: Prepaid529 will pay tuition and mandatory fees for normal full-time course load (12 – 18 credit hours) in a general course of study at Virginia public two or four-year schools. Additional charges for a specific major, class, program or course of study (e.g., engineering, nursing), often referred to as “Differential Tuition,” are not covered by Prepaid529.

How payments are made: Virginia529 will pay funds directly to Virginia public schools each semester after the school’s add-drop period and upon receipt of an invoice from the school. Virginia529 will pay the school each Spring and Fall semester until benefits are exhausted or you submit a Stop Benefits Request through your online account.

Virginia private college or university

What Prepaid529 covers: Prepaid529 will pay the lesser of contract payments made plus the actual rate of return or the highest in-state undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees at a Virginia public college or university in the semester in which benefits are used. Payouts to Virginia private colleges or universities may not cover the full cost of tuition and mandatory fees. However, it will never be less than the minimum benefit which, in most cases, is equal to the total payments made on the contract, plus the Prepaid529 reasonable rate of return.

How payments are made: Virginia529 will pay funds directly to Virginia private schools each semester after the school’s add-drop period and upon receipt of an invoice from the school. Virginia529 will pay the school each Spring and Fall semester until benefits are exhausted or you submit a Stop Benefits Request through your online account.

College or university outside of Virginia

What Prepaid529 covers: Prepaid529 will pay the lesser of contract payments made plus the Prepaid529 reasonable rate of return, compounded annually or the average in-state undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees at Virginia public schools in the semester benefits are used. However, the payout will never be less than the minimum benefit.

How payments are made: The account owner is responsible for submitting a new withdrawal request each semester. Virginia529 will not directly communicate with an out-of-state school to arrange payment. Funds can be sent to the school, the student, or to reimburse yourself for other qualified higher education expenses.

Prepaid529 documents & forms

• Prepaid529 Benefits Guide

  Instructions on how to use your Prepaid529 benefits.

  Download (PDF)

• Prepaid529 Program Description & Master Agreement

  Prepaid529 Program Description & Master Agreement.

  Download (PDF)

• Prepaid529 Reasonable Rate of Return

  Prepaid529 reasonable rates of return since inception.

  Download (PDF)

• Refinance/Downgrade Request

  Change the payment terms on your Prepaid529 account.

  Online

Prepaid529 FAQs

What will Prepaid529 pay when my child attends college?

Prepaid529 pays undergraduate in-state tuition and mandatory fees assessed to all students at Virginia public two- and four-year schools. It does not cover room and board, books, supplies and other qualified higher education expenses. Also, Prepaid529 does not cover any additional charges of any type for specific courses of study, such as nursing or engineering, that a school may require for more than a normal full-time course load. Some families choose to save for these other costs with a Virginia529 savings account, such as Invest529 or CollegeAmerica, because a child may be the beneficiary of more than one Virginia529 account. Please see the applicable Program Description for more information.

What if the student stops attending school?

If the student stops attending school, immediately submit a Stop Benefits request. Stopping your Prepaid529 benefits is a convenient online process.

Follow the steps below to submit a request.

1. Select View My Accounts, then Withdrawal History.
2. In the Enrollment section, locate the appropriate student and school
3. Click the Stop Benefits button.

Virginia529 will no longer make payments to the school once the request has been submitted and accepted. To begin using benefits again, the account owner should submit a new withdrawal request.

When will Prepaid529 open again?

Prepaid529 permanently closed for new enrollment as of May 1, 2019. There will be no changes to existing Prepaid529 contracts, and current contracts will retain the Prepaid529 benefit structure in effect at the time of purchase.

What are the tax benefits of a Prepaid529 account?

Earnings grow free from state and federal taxes when used for qualified expenses. Taxpayers may deduct from individual Virginia taxable income contributions of up to $4,000 per account per year made to a Virginia529 account. If you contribute more than $4,000 to an account in one year, you may deduct up to $4,000 per year until you have claimed all of your contributions.

What are “Virginia public schools” for the purposes of Prepaid529?

Virginia public colleges and universities include a number of options, giving you a great deal of choice for using your Prepaid529 account. Visit the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) website for a complete list of Virginia public colleges and universities.

Additional information

State obligation

To cover Prepaid529’s contractual obligations in the event of a Virginia529 funding shortfall, Virginia law provides that a sum sufficient appropriation must be included by the Governor in his annual proposed state budget bill. This provision can only be changed through the annual appropriations process, which would require action by the Virginia General Assembly.

Mandatory fees

Mandatory fees do not include laboratory fees, course-specific or optional fees, room and board, transportation, computers or textbooks. Additional charges for a specific course of study, such as nursing or engineering, or for a course load above normal full-time are not covered by Prepaid529.

Maximum balance

Virginia529 limits an individual beneficiary’s cumulative account balance for all Virginia529 accounts (regardless of program) to $550,000.

College admissions

Ownership of a Prepaid529 contract has no bearing on the admissions process at Virginia colleges or those elsewhere. A student must apply to and be accepted by the school he or she wishes to attend.

Risk

Please refer to the Prepaid529 Program Description for a discussion of risk factors associated with Prepaid529.