ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Parents who've had difficulty accessing funds in their child's Maryland 529 College Savings Account hope to get some answers from the Maryland House Appropriations Committee at a hearing Thursday afternoon.
While some parents will be able to speak at the hearing itself, a group of 10 to 15 parents will gather outside the Maryland State House to make sure their voices are heard.
Some parents with college savings plans haven't been able to access the funds in their accounts for nearly a year. It’s creating a financial strain for families when tuition bills are due.
Parents start paying into these plans when their kids are young. The interest accrues overtime which helps grow the value of their investment and ease the pain of a costly college education.
For many parents, a calculation error is keeping them from accessing all of the funds in their accounts.
Their troubles began in November 2021 when the Maryland 529 program switched its program manager and increased interest accrual rates on some accounts.
During this process, Maryland 529 also discovered a calculation error was inflating the minimum benefit for some account holders. The program froze interest earnings last spring until it could fix the mess, but the problem has yet to be fixed.
Maryland 529 executive director Anthony Savia told WMAR-2 News last month that of the 480 requests they have for account support, 419 had been manually reviewed.
MORE: Parents who invested in college savings program unable to access some funds
He also sent a note stating “I can say with confidence that the calculation formula has been corrected ... and outside consultants are moving through the remaining individual account manual reviews as quickly as possible to correct all remaining MPCT tuition plan accounts.”
Despite this recent update many parents still wonder exactly how much in interest they've accrued since opening their account, and when they'll have access to those funds.
Parent Brian Savoie said “if the process is starting and we know that people are getting their funds restored then I think there would be more confidence from families that they’re going to get their money hopefully in the near future.”
Savoie is one of two parents who plan on testifying directly to the House of Delegates Appropriations Committee about their frustration with the program when trying access their funds.
The hearing is at 1:30 p.m., Thursday, January 19.
Account holders impacted by the calculation error "fix" say they will rally together at 12:45 p.m. in front of state house at Lawyers Mall to make all of their voices heard before the hearing.
