Employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica® 529
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Open
Set up an employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica plan
Employer forms
Use this form to set up an employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica plan.
Complete the CollegeAmerica Employer Authorization form.
Employee forms
Use this application to open the employee accounts.
If the employer has established a payroll deduction plan, employees will also complete this payroll deduction form and return it to their employer.
Complete the Employer-Sponsored CollegeAmerica Account Application.
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Review employer requirements, contribution limits, eligibility guidelines, fee information and more in Opening employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica accounts.
Enrollment meeting and materials
CollegeAmerica presentation
Use this presentation to show employees the benefits of participating in the plan.
Access the Unlock a world of possibilities presentation.
CollegeAmerica client conversation kit
Use this kit to help employees enroll in the new plan.
View the CollegeAmerica client conversation kit — employer sponsored plan application.
Enrollment meetings
Follow these steps:
- Schedule the meeting.
- Provide employees with applications, fund prospectuses and payroll deduction forms (if applicable)
- Return the completed applications
For an easy, step-by-step guide to setting up an employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica plan, visit
Set up an employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica plan.Rollovers and transfers
Use this form, with an application, to request a transfer or rollover into a CollegeAmerica account. Contact the resigning institution for their requirements to transfer the assets to American Funds.
Complete the CollegeAmerica Rollover/Transfer Request.
For guidelines on moving funds, how rollovers affect the employee’s taxes and more, visit Employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica incoming rollovers.
Common questions
The employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica account has two options from which employers can choose:
- A payroll deduction plan, where employees have salary deferred from their paycheck and the employer’s checking account is drafted. (When the plan is established, instructions and login information are emailed to the employer and plan contact on how to make contributions using the Online Group Investments (OGI) website.)
- An ACH purchase plan, where employees contribute directly from their personal bank accounts
For additional information on the OGI website and to learn how to get a plan started using OGI, visit Online Group Investments (OGI) for plan sponsors.
No, any money withheld from an employee’s paycheck to invest in a payroll deduction program is considered taxable income.
No, an employee’s employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica account cannot be linked with their personal accounts. Most employer-sponsored accounts are aggregated with other participant accounts that are part of the same plan or that are part of an employer-sponsored retirement plan offered by the same or an affiliated employer.
However, exceptions apply in the case the employee and/or the following are the sole participants in the plan:
- Their spouse
- Their spouse equivalent, if recognized under local law
- Their children under the age of 21
- ABLEAmerica® accounts for their disabled adult children
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Update
Update employee’s name
Complete this form and submit with supporting documentation. See the form for requirements.
Complete the Name Change Request.
Update employee’s address
Update the address via the employee’s online account. Use the options on the right side of the page.
Note: There is a 10-calendar-day wait to process a distribution to the new address unless the distribution request is submitted in writing with a signature guarantee.
Log in to Client Accounts.
Update employee’s contact information
An employee’s email address and/or phone number can be updated on DST Vision or by contacting us.
Log in to DST Vision.
If the employee has experienced a major life event, visit Life events for checklists to assist with account updates they may need to consider.
Add/update employee bank accounts
Link a bank account to buy shares
Link a bank account to sell shares
Use this form.
Note: Unless the form is signature guaranteed, there is a 10-calendar-day wait to process a distribution to the new bank account.
Complete the Add/Update Bank Information form.
Review eligibility, restrictions, requirements and more in Managing client banking information.
Update customer profiles
Change the owner
Changing ownership requires the signature of both the new owner and the resigning owner. The resigning owner must obtain a signature guarantee. If the resigning owner is deceased, please contact us.
Change a beneficiary
If the employee wants to both change a beneficiary and process a distribution to the new beneficiary, use this form and the CollegeAmerica Distribution Request. Submit the two forms together to expedite the request.
Complete the CollegeAmerica Account Change Request.
Add/update a successor owner
Use this form. Alternatively, the employee may be able to make the change by logging in to their account on the investor website.
Complete the CollegeAmerica Account Change Request.
Review eligibility, requirements and more in
Managing employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica accounts.Common questions
Complete the CollegeAmerica Account Change Request. Refer to Managing employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica accounts for additional guidelines and tax implications for beneficiary changes.
For a payroll deduction plan, the employee should provide a new CollegeAmerica Payroll Deduction Election form to their employer. For an automatic investment plan from their personal bank account, contribution changes can be made via Client Accounts or by contacting us. Employees can also make changes to their automatic investment plans on the investor website.
Yes, if the employee is currently contributing from their personal bank account via ACH. If the employee is contributing via payroll deduction, the former employee must first be removed from the payroll deduction plan. The former employee must then link their bank account to continue contributing.
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Transact
Contributions
Make a one-time contribution online
Access the employee’s account online and click Buy. Be sure to have the employee’s bank information on hand if it’s not already on file.
Log in to Client Accounts.
Set up automatic investments
Access the employee’s account online to add or update an automatic investment plan and click Automatic Transactions.
Log in to Client Accounts.
Establish payroll deductions
Employees need to complete this form and return it to their employer.
Complete the CollegeAmerica Payroll Deduction Election form.
Visit Employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica contributions for additional details about contribution minimums and maximums, deadlines and more.
Distributions
Distribute funds to the employee
Funds can be sent via check or Automated Clearing House (ACH) if the employee’s bank information is already linked. The distribution will be reported under the employee’s Social Security number (SSN). Access the employee’s account online and click Sell.
Log in to Client Accounts.
Distribute funds to the beneficiary
Funds can be sent via ACH if the beneficiary’s bank information is already linked and the distribution is for $25,000 or less. The distribution will be reported under the beneficiary’s SSN. Access the employee’s account online and click Sell.
Log in to Client Accounts.
Distribute funds to the school
Funds can be sent via check to an eligible educational institution. You’ll need the institution’s name and address and the beneficiary’s student ID number. The distribution will be reported under the beneficiary’s SSN. Access the employee’s account online and click Sell.
Log in to Client Accounts.
For guidelines on distribution options, how distributions may affect the employee’s tax reporting and more, visit Employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica distributions.
Exchanges and rebalances
Complete a one-time exchange or rebalance
Exchanges and rebalances are considered strategy changes, and two strategy changes can be completed per owner/beneficiary combination per year. Access the employee’s account online and click either Exchange or Rebalance.
Set up an automatic exchange or rebalance plan
Adding or updating an automatic exchange or rebalance plan is considered a strategy change, and two strategy changes can be completed per owner/beneficiary combination per year. Access the employee’s account online and click Automatic Transactions.
Log in to Client Accounts.
For additional information about one-time exchanges and rebalances and automatic plans, visit Employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica exchanges and rebalances.
Common questions
The employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica account has two options from which employers can choose:
- A payroll deduction plan, where employees have salary deferred from their paycheck and the employer’s checking account is drafted
- An ACH purchase plan, where employees contribute directly from their personal bank accounts
Yes, if the employee is currently contributing from their personal bank account via ACH. If the employee is contributing via payroll deduction, the former employee must first be removed from the payroll deduction plan. The former employee must then link their bank account to continue contributing.
Generally, qualified education expenses refer to expenses required for the enrollment or attendance of the beneficiary at an eligible educational institution. For a list of qualified expenses, as well as the tax implications of taking a nonqualified distribution, visit CollegeAmerica qualified education expenses.
Distributions can be sent to the owner, beneficiary or school. Depending on the recipient, the funds can be sent either via check or ACH. Review CollegeAmerica distribution options for the best options for your clients.
Yes, as long as the other student is a member of the current beneficiary’s family. If so, the funds must be transferred to the new beneficiary first for tax- reporting purposes. Complete the CollegeAmerica Account Change Request. Include the CollegeAmerica Distribution Request and submit the forms together to expedite the request.
Learn more about who is considered a member of the family.
Two strategy changes can be completed per owner/beneficiary combination per year. To learn more about what changes are considered to be strategy changes and how they may affect the employees’ taxes, visit Managing employer-sponsored CollegeAmerica accounts.
Yes. Eligible 529 assets can be rolled into a Roth IRA within certain limitations. For more information, review CollegeAmerica 529 to Roth IRA rollovers.
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Contact us
Have questions or need additional support?
Contact us 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.
For financial professionals only. Not for use with the public.
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Use of this website is intended for U.S. residents only.
The guidelines and procedures provided in the Account Resource Center may not apply to networked accounts or accounts not directly held by American Funds. The guidelines and procedures provided also apply only to those retirement accounts or Coverdell ESAs invested in American Funds with Capital Bank and Trust Company (CB&T) as custodian. The guidelines and procedures provided in the Account Resource Center do not apply to plans held in our retirement plan solutions — PlanPremier, PlanPremier-TPA or RecordkeeperDirect. Information on the Account Resource Center may change periodically, and previously printed information may not be current. Please refer to capitalgroup.com for the most current information available.
Financial professionals should always contact their back office to determine if there are any restrictions on the use of American Funds products, tools, services, websites and literature.
CollegeAmerica is distributed by Capital Client Group, Inc. and sold through unaffiliated intermediaries.
Depending on your state of residence, there may be an in-state plan that provides state tax and other state benefits, such as financial aid, scholarship funds and protection from creditors, not available through CollegeAmerica. Before investing in any state’s 529 plan, investors should consult a tax advisor.