CONTACT
Evan Zall
781.449.3244
Ugift
®
SURPASSES $5 MILLION IN
CONTRIBUTIONS TO COLLEGE SAVINGS
Upromise Investments’ Gifting Tool Expands Community of Savers
NEWTON, MA, December 3, 2009 – Upromise Investments, Inc., the leading
administrator of 529 college savings plans, today announced that Ugift, its online gifting
platform, has eclipsed the $5 million mark in contributed gifts. Ugift allows family and
friends to easily and securely contribute college savings to an account in participating 529
college savings plans. Upromise Investments is an affiliate of Sallie Mae, the nation’s
leading saving, planning, and paying for college company.
This milestone follows exponential growth in use of the gifting tool. Ugift inspired more
than $1 million in contributions in 2008, and has since been embraced as a crucial tool in
building college savings.
By year-end, Ugift will be available for account owners of all Upromise Investments-
administered direct-sold 529 plans. More details on how to use Ugift can be found at
www.529.com
, as well as information on participating plans including:
• The GIFT College Investing Plan (Arkansas)
• CollegeInvest Direct Portfolio College Savings Plan (Colorado)
• HI529 – Hawaii’s College Savings Plan (Hawaii)
• IDeal – Idaho College Savings Plan (Idaho)
• CollegeChoice 529 Direct Savings Plan (Indiana)
• College Savings Iowa 529 Plan (Iowa)
• MOST – Missouri's 529 College Savings Plan (Missouri)
• Upromise College Fund 529 Plan (Nevada)
• USAA College Savings Plan
®
(Nevada)
• Vanguard
®
529 College Savings Plan (Nevada)
• New York’s 529 College Savings Program Direct Plan (New York)
• College SAVE Plan (North Dakota)
• Pennsylvania 529 College Savings Program (Pennsylvania)
Ugift has also been adapted for advisor-sold plans, such as the iShares 529 Plan
(sponsored by Arkansas) and the CollegeChoice Advisor 529 Savings Plan (sponsored by
Indiana).
CONTACT
Evan Zall
781.449.3244
“Family and friends want to help students achieve their goals of higher education, but so
often they don’t know how to give that help,” said Liz Robinson, vice president of Upromise
Investments. “The beauty of Ugift is that instead of another toy or a game that is forgotten
in a short time, family and friends can give one of the most important gifts a student will
ever receive: help toward paying college expenses. The overwhelming response to Ugift
over the past few years – especially in this difficult economic climate – shows a genuine
desire to help the next generation fulfill their dreams.”
The $5 million milestone is accompanied by other indications of Ugift’s overwhelming
appeal. More than 21,000 events have been registered, with gift contributions as low as
$15 and averaging about $700.
Ugift is an easy-to-use online tool that enables anyone to contribute to a child’s college
savings account quickly and easily. Account owners can email invitations to family and
friends asking them to mark a celebration with the gift of college savings in lieu of
traditional presents. Contributions are made by including a bar-coded coupon along with a
monetary gift, which is then routed to the correct account with minimal effort from the
account owner and the gift giver. When gifts are received, families can track who
contributed and thank them accordingly.
###
For more information about Ugift or a participating 529 plan, visit www.529.com.
Please read the applicable 529 plan’s Program Description, which includes
investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information;
read and consider it carefully before investing or sending money.
Consider before investing whether your or the designated beneficiary’s home state
offers any state tax or other benefits that are only available for investments in such
state's qualified tuition program.
Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
About Upromise Investments, Inc.
Upromise Investments is focused on providing 529 plan management and marketing
services to state partners and families saving for college. The company is a wholly owned
subsidiary of SLM Corporation (NYSE: SLM), commonly known as Sallie Mae, the nation’s
leading provider of saving, planning and paying for education programs. As of September
30, 2009, Upromise Investments provided program management and administration
CONTACT
Evan Zall
781.449.3244
services to more than 1.8 million accounts with over $21 billion in assets across direct,
advisor, and prepaid savings plans sponsored by 11 states. Upromise Investments, Inc., is
a registered broker-dealer, member of FINRA (formerly NASD), SIPC, and is registered
with the MSRB.
