Tag Archives: future of higher education

Enhancements to 529 Plan May Soon be Realized

Image courtesy of bugphai at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of bugphai at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The Senate Finance Committee has unanimously passed measures that enhance the 529 Plan, an educational savings plan that helps parents fund their children’s college education. The 529 Plan is operated by state agencies and organizations, and withdrawals for education expenses are exempt from federal taxes.

Among the improvements added to the bill are:

  • Students can use 529 funds to purchase a computer – Under the current law, students can only use the funds to purchase a computer if the college they are attending requires them to have a computer. The new measure would allow students to purchase a computer with 529 funds whether or not their schools require it.
  • Taxation and the tax penalty on higher education expenses have been eliminated – Currently, when students withdraw from college, their refunds are subject to taxation and a 10% tax penalty. Under the new measure, refunds received when a student withdraws from school can be redeposited into their 529 within 60 days without penalty, allowing parents to use the funds to pay for the student’s education should they return to school at a later date, or even use it for another family member.

Lawmakers hope the increased flexibility these enhancements provide will encourage more parents to utilize the 529 Plan. The bill has strong support in Congress, with the House of Representatives having passed a similar bill, and the full Senate expected to pass this bill as well.

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Preparing for the Future of Higher Education

Source: morgueFile
Source: morgueFile

Whenever there is an innovation disrupting the world of higher education, it’s easy to try and ignore it and label it as just that – a brief disruption. However, the future of higher education is based off of innovation, which means that keeping up with new innovations is a smart thing to do. The following innovations could mean big things for the future of higher education:

  • Analytics – Analytics tools will allow you to predict the success of students, improve student support services, measure the achievement of learning outcomes and much more.
  • Competency-based education – Competency-based education is based on the idea of awarding credits for mastery instead of traditional credit hours. This gives students a chance to accelerate their time to degree due to the ability to acquire knowledge and skills outside of the classroom through life experience.
  • Personalized learning – Personalization has become a focal point for marketing and retail, and it makes sense that it could be implemented into education. By providing students with individualized learning pathways, you can tailor activities and readings to the needs and interests of students.
  • Open educational resources – Higher education is expensive as it is when not accounting for the need to purchase textbooks every year. Open educational resources on the web make it easier for students to do research and save money, as well.

These are some of the innovations that could change the higher education for the better. Contact us at Labyrinth Learning for additional teaching resources.