NEWTON, MA, December 3, 2009—Upromise Investments, Inc., the leading administrator of 529 college savings plans, today announced that Ugift, its online gifting platform, has eclipsed the $5 million mark in contributed gifts. Ugift allows family and friends to easily and securely contribute college savings to an account in participating 529 college savings plans. Upromise Investments is an affiliate of Sallie Mae, the nation’s leading saving, planning, and paying for college company.
This milestone follows exponential growth in use of the gifting tool. Ugift inspired more than $1 million in contributions in 2008, and has since been embraced as a crucial tool in building college savings.
By year-end, Ugift will be available for account owners of all Upromise Investments-administered direct-sold 529 plans. More details on how to use Ugift can be found at www.529.com, as well as information on participating plans including:
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The GIFT College Investing Plan (Arkansas)
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CollegeInvest Direct Portfolio College Savings Plan (Colorado)
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HI529 – Hawaii’s College Savings Plan (Hawaii)
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IDeal – Idaho College Savings Plan (Idaho)
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CollegeChoice 529 Direct Savings Plan (Indiana)
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College Savings Iowa 529 Plan (Iowa)
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MOST – Missouri's 529 College Savings Plan (Missouri)
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Upromise College Fund 529 Plan (Nevada)
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USAA College Savings Plan® (Nevada)
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Vanguard® 529 College Savings Plan (Nevada)New York’s 529 College Savings Program Direct Plan (New York)
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College SAVE Plan (North Dakota)
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Pennsylvania 529 College Savings Program (Pennsylvania)
Ugift has also been adapted for advisor-sold plans, such as the iShares 529 Plan (sponsored by Arkansas) and the CollegeChoice Advisor 529 Savings Plan (sponsored by Indiana).
“Family and friends want to help students achieve their goals of higher education, but so often they don’t know how to give that help,” said Liz Robinson, vice president of Upromise Investments. “The beauty of Ugift is that instead of another toy or a game that is forgotten in a short time, family and friends can give one of the most important gifts a student will ever receive: help toward paying college expenses. The overwhelming response to Ugift over the past few years – especially in this difficult economic climate – shows a genuine desire to help the next generation fulfill their dreams.”
The $5 million milestone is accompanied by other indications of Ugift’s overwhelming appeal. More than 21,000 events have been registered, with gift contributions as low as $15 and averaging about $700.
Ugift is an easy-to-use online tool that enables anyone to contribute to a child’s college savings account quickly and easily. Account owners can email invitations to family and friends asking them to mark a celebration with the gift of college savings in lieu of traditional presents. Contributions are made by including a bar-coded coupon along with a monetary gift, which is then routed to the correct account with minimal effort from the account owner and the gift giver. When gifts are received, families can track who contributed and thank them accordingly.
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For more information about Ugift or a participating 529 plan, visit www.529.com. Please read the applicable 529 plan’s Program Description, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information; read and consider it carefully before investing or sending money.
Consider before investing whether your or the designated beneficiary’s home state offers any state tax or other benefits that are only available for investments in such state's qualified tuition program.
Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
For more information contact:
Evan Zall (781) 449-3244 (Upromise Investments)
SLM Corporation (NYSE:
SLM), commonly known as Sallie Mae, is the nation’s leading saving, planning and paying for education company. Sallie Mae’s saving programs, planning resources and financing options have helped more than 31 million people make the investment in higher education. Through its subsidiaries, the company manages $176 billion in education loans and serves 10 million student and parent customers. In addition, the company’s Upromise program has enabled 11 million members to earn more than $525 million in rewards to help pay for college. Its Upromise affiliates also manage more than $23 billion in 529 college-savings plans. Sallie Mae offers services to a range of institutional clients, including colleges and universities, student loan guarantors and state and federal agencies. More information is available at
www.SallieMae.com. SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.
About Upromise Investments, Inc.
Upromise Investments is focused on providing 529 plan management and marketing services to state partners and families saving for college. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM), commonly known as Sallie Mae, the nation’s leading provider of saving, planning and paying for education programs. As of September 30, 2009, Upromise Investments provided program management and administration services to more than 1.8 million accounts with over $21 billion in assets across direct, advisor, and prepaid savings plans sponsored by 11 states. Upromise Investments, Inc., is a registered broker-dealer, member of FINRA (formerly NASD), SIPC, and is registered with the MSRB.