In the 6 years I have had kids in college I haven’t had this come up yet. D2 is in the process of looking for an apartment for the 2018/19 school year. Is off campus housing and board a legitimate use of 529 funds? My oldest D had her coop earnings to pay for those things. In the past we always had the 529 funds sent directly to the university for tuition room and board and I’m not sure how this works.
The short answer: “Yes, money in 529 college-savings accounts can pay for off-campus housing, but only if the costs don’t exceed what the school charges for room and board.” The long answer:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-my-529-be-used-for-off-campus-housing-1462759212
Make the distribution payable to the 529 account owner or beneficiary, and then use it to pay for or reimburse qualified room and boarding expenses. Just make sure that the 529 distributions are taken in the same calendar year in which the actual expenses they are covering were paid. Example: don’t pay the rent bill in December and then use a 529 distribution taken in January to reimburse for that payment.
Thank you.
Look at the college’s expected COST OF ATTENDANCE at the off campus R&B estimates.
That is the number you can withdraw out of the 529 and justify.
If you spend less (unlikely) then you take what you spend (keep receipts).
But if you spend more, then this is the max you can take.
At least this was the result of my research a couple years back.
As time went by, I decided to just pay the tuition with the 529 and most out of pocket expenses
without the 529. I’ll spend it all, tuition is high.
If you have scholarships, you can withdraw the amount of scholarship and spend that on anything you like
(or save).