<p>Anyone have experience of 529 account use for study abroad? My daughter is planning to study abroad next year and we have encouraged her to go with one of her school's reciprocal exchange programs where her scholarship and financial aid will all stay in place so the cost would be very much the same as her normal costs except for cost of travel. But the program she really would like to do is an affiliated/approved program which is more expensive, her federal financial aid will stay in place but her school scholarship will not. I was thinking it would be impossible but if her 529 can be used for it then it would be doable. Anyone used 529 for study abroad?</p>
<p>Have not used it for abroad, but I think it would work if the study earns her credit at her US college-I’m not 100% sure on this but 529’s have pretty loose rules- My advice would be to read the IRS publication on what’s allowed to be sure.</p>
<p>I looked at IRS970 and it does not say anything about it. I think it would be ok. Just mulling the possibilities right now. I had been pretty emphatic that she should look at reciprocal as for some reason the possibility of using her 529 account had not crossed my mind. Suddenly popped into my head today! Don’t want to raise her hopes if it can’t be done.</p>
<p>Talk to the Bursar’s Office at her school. They most likely know the answer to this one!</p>
<p>I’ll do that. Another question kelsmom - SMART grant? If she does the reciprocal I am pretty sure the SMART grant stays in place (as long as she does at least one class required for her major) as she stays enrolled at her home school. But for an affiliated program? Would she (or could she) still get it. Losing that $2000 as well as the tuition waiver might make it less doable. </p>
<p>Oh and another - PLUS loan? Can they be taken out for study abroad. We have never taken a PLUS loan out but might be willing to take a small one to help her do the program she wants (especially as we have not had to pay out much so far due to her getting and keeping a good scholarship).</p>
<p>If she does the reciprocal, SMART will stay in place. For affiliated, I am not so sure … if she would get Pell, she should be able to get SMART, I would think - but maybe not, so check!! I have never dealt with that - very few study abroad where I work & no SMART questions from any of them. PLUS is a yes.</p>
<p>BTW, classes are no longer monitored. The expectation is that if they are in the major, they are taking classes that fulfill the requirements - so there can be a semester with gen ed requirements & no directly-related major classes & she can still get SMART.</p>
<p>Thanks kelsmom. God news about the PLUS. Obviously we would much prefer not to lose the SMART for that semester but the PLUS is an option. I will tell her to go talk to the FA office soon if she is serious about doing this one place rather than a reciprocal program. I am not sure exactly how the whole FA application process will work with the affiliated program and the extra costs. The program does tie in much more with her interests and what she is planning to go to grad school for so if we can swing it it would be great, but we don’t have that sort of extra cash lying around so would have to be able to find a way to finance it. (It is not a vast amount or we would not contemplate it - my friends daughter did a really wonderful study abroad in London that cost nearly $30k for a semester - definitely would not be possible for us to finance that). </p>
<p>I did not know that about the SMART. Is that for this year? Or starting next?</p>
<p>The new SMART rule started this year.</p>
<p>We have a dedicated financial aid person who handles study abroad issues. Maybe your D’s school has someone like that.</p>
<p>My D decided against London because she heard it was really expensive to live in London. She went to Edinburgh, instead. One of her friends visited London for the weekend & said it was the most expensive weekend of her life! D is doing a lot of traveling, but she will not be going to London.</p>
<p>There are reasonable options in London if one takes the time to research. There are reasonable hostels and hotels though they will be higher than in non Capital cities. It is like any major capital city, New York, Paris, Rome - expensive. When we did a big trip several years back hotels in Rome seemed the most expensive. If your daughter goes to in England I would definitely recommend at least a couple of days in London. I physically checked out a hostel near St. Pauls Cathedral for out girl scout trip and would have happily stayed there, but we managed to raise enough funds (three years of fundraising mostly working the gates at State U football and basketball games and - shudder - concessions stands at a large arena (my idea of hell - I planned and booked the whole Europe trip for 8 but got fired from pulling sodas in a concession stand, LOL), and we paid for the whole trip) to go for hotels rather than hostels.</p>
<p>Good thought about seeing if there is a dedicated financial aid person for study abroad. I will have her check. In these circumstances will they be ok if Mom comes along? I usually leave it up to her to deal with that stuff (with some occasional pre-coaching) but this might be a time that I would like to be there to ask any new questions generated by answers to original questions.</p>
<p>I figure it’s always okay for the parent to come along … heck, the feds expect us to pay, so we sure need to know what’s what! :)</p>