As of October 1st, 2020, AZ529, Arizona’s Education Savings Plan is under the administration of the Office of the Arizona State Treasurer. Kimberly Yee is the State Treasurer of Arizona. She is Arizona’s chief banking and investment officer and oversees the cash management of Arizona’s $40 billion state budget and payments to agencies, local governments and schools and manages about $19 billion in assets under management.
Arizona’s Education Savings Plan is Arizona’s version of the savings plans permitted under IRS code section 529. Legislation establishing the AZ529 Plan passed in 1997 and the Plan was launched in 1999. On June 5th, 2020, Governor Doug Ducey signed S.B. 1528, transferring the AZ529 Plan to the Office of the Arizona State Treasurer as Program Administrator and the State Board of Investment as Program Trustee.
As the administrator and steward of the program, Treasurer Yee says her office is focusing on expanding the program’s outreach to underprivileged families that may not have the resources or a plan for future education for their families. Treasurer Yee has been a proponent of financial literacy in Arizona and hopes families will explore education savings concepts as part of their financial knowledge.
AZ529 is Arizona’s tax-advantaged college and educational savings program. In the last 20 years, AZ529 has helped families accumulate more than $1.9 billion for educational expenses. It allows participants to start saving for a variety of future educational needs, including K-12 education, apprenticeship programs, trade schools, community and 4-year colleges and graduate programs.
Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee