About Us

More than 270 private colleges across the nation have joined together to form Tuition Plan Consortium, the not-for-profit organization that sponsors Independent 529 Plan.

Independent 529 Plan operates under the direction of the Tuition Plan Consortium board, which is composed of twenty-one Directors who are officers of independent colleges or affiliated organizations. All costs of administering the program, managing the assets, and running the Tuition Plan Consortium office are paid for by the annual management fee of 1.25% of assets, which is paid by the member colleges.

Tuition Plan Consortium has entered into an agreement with TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing Inc.(TFI) to provide administrative, service, and marketing support to the program. TIAA-CREF Individual and Institutional Services, LLC distributes Independent 529 Plan. TIAA-CREF is one of the nation's largest pension fund managers with over $414 billion in combined assets under management as of December 30, 2009. Currently, TIAA-CREF manages several state-sponsored 529 plans in addition to Independent 529 Plan.

TFI's affiliate in the TIAA-CREF group of companies, TIAA-CREF Trust Company FSB, is the trustee for the program trust, within which Independent 529 Plan is required to hold all program assets.

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