About Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET)
GET's 2024-25 enrollment period is open with a unit purchase price of $123.76.
The GET program is Washington's 529 prepaid college tuition plan that helps families save for future higher education expenses. The State of Washington guarantees that the value of your account will keep pace with the cost of college tuition, no matter how much it changes in the future.
The earlier you start, the more time you have to save, and the greater the opportunity for your GET account to increase in value.
Since GET opened in 1998, more than 68,000 students have used over $1.5 billion in GET savings to help pay for qualified higher education expenses at colleges, universities, and technical schools nationwide and around the world.
How does GET work?
GET account values are measured in "units," where 100 units equals the cost of one year of resident, undergraduate tuition and state-mandated fees at Washington’s highest-priced public university. Individual units are valued at 1/100th of that cost.
You can buy Lump Sum units in whole or partial amounts, up to 800 units per student.
It's secure.
Savings in a GET account are not invested in stocks, therefore, they’re not subject to the ups and downs of the stock market. Plus, your GET account is guaranteed to keep pace with tuition and state-mandated fees at Washington’s highest-priced public university. The state guarantee is backed by the full faith and credit of the State of Washington. That means if future tuition increases ever require the program to pay out more money than it has available, the Legislature would be required by state law to provide funding to cover the shortfall.
It’s versatile.
You can use your GET units to pay college costs practically anywhere in the country and even at schools around the world. Your GET account has the same monetary value whether your child attends a public university, a local community college or technical school, a private university, or a college in another state. GET units can even be used to pay costs associated with some apprenticeships.
It’s tax-advantaged.
Because GET is a state 529 plan, the after-tax money you put in will grow tax-free. When your child is ready to enroll in college or other career training, the money you withdraw will remain tax-free, as long as you use it for qualified higher education expenses.
It’s flexible.
You can use your GET account for tuition, room and board, books, computers, or dozens of other qualified expenses. If your child chooses not to go to college or receives a scholarship, you can transfer your account to another family member, hold onto your account for a change of plans, save it for graduate school, or in some cases roll it into a retirement fund for the beneficiary. Unlike some savings options, you, the account owner, maintain complete control over the account and how the distributions are used.
It’s easy to save with GET.
You decide how much and how often to save. The only requirement is that either the account owner or the student is a Washington resident when you enroll in the program.
You can buy units up front in one lump sum, set up monthly lump sum payments with automatic withdrawal (ACH), add funds when you have a little extra, or choose a combination of methods. You can open an account for anyone – your child, grandchild, friend, or even yourself.
