Did you know that friends and family members can contribute directly to your college savings or ABLE account? With more money in the account to invest and earn returns, your savings have the potential to grow faster to help you reach your savings goals.

All the Ways You Can Give

There are many ways to give to future costs for the loved ones in your life. Whether you have friends or family members saving for college or providing for disability-related expenses, consider the many ways you can save, as well as practical ways to contribute to these savings plans.

Explore the Many Ways to Save

• U.Plan Prepaid Tuition Program: A prepaid tuition program that offers tax advantages and lets you save for college while locking in today’s rates.
• U.Fund 529 College Investing Plan: As the MA 529 college savings plan, this plan offers affordability, flexibility, and tax advantages.
• Attainable® Savings Plan: With an Attainable® savings account, individuals with disabilities can save for health and personal expenses in a tax-advantaged account offered MEFA and by managed by Fidelity Investments.

Consider the Many Ways to Give

• Gifting Page with Fidelity: Your gifting dashboard is available for friends and family members to give a gift to your 529 college savings account.
• MEFA Savings Gift Cards: Available in select retail stores in Massachusetts and online at mefa.org/giftcard.
• Gift of College Member Page: Create a member profile and link your savings account information for your loved ones to have a simple way to gift funds to your family members’ savings plans.

What is College Gifting?

College gifting is simply giving a gift of education savings for the holidays or another special event. Contributing to a child’s college savings account is an easy and powerful way as a gift giver to make a lasting impact on a child’s life. Your gift can grow as the child gets closer to college age, and can help reduce the amount needed to borrow for college costs.

Want to learn more? Check out our resources 90 Seconds with MEFA: College Gifting and The MEFA Podcast episode, How to Increase Your Savings with College Gifting.

Set Up Online 529 Gifting in 4 Easy Steps

If you’re saving in a U.Fund, there’s an easy way to set up online gifting for your child. The resource allows friends and family members to simply follow a link and electronically deposit funds in your child’s 529.

MEFA Savings Gift Cards

The MEFA Gift of College Card and MEFA Gift of Independence Card provide friends and family members a tangible way to contribute toward an individual’s college savings account, student loan balance, or ABLE account to commemorate a birthday, graduation, holiday, or any other special event. Purchase a gift card at Stop & Shop, Cumberland Farms, and CVS stores in Massachusetts, or purchase online at mefa.org/giftcard. The gift card can be redeemed into designated savings or student loan accounts at Gift of College’s website.