Contributing to Florida Prepaid Plans: FL Investment 529 Plan & FL Prepaid Tuition Plan

Welcome Step up for Students Families if your child receives the Unique Abilities Scholarship, we're here to show you how those funds can be used to invest in their future through Florida Prepaid Plans. Today, we're focusing on how families can effectively use Unique Abilities Scholarship funds with Florida Prepaid plans. First, we'll explore setting up direct payments into a Florida 529 investment plan. This will empower you to seamlessly channel scholarship funds directly into your savings. Next, we'll discuss how to request reimbursements when using a Florida prepaid tuition plan. Our aim is to simplify this process for you, ensuring that saving for your child's education becomes a straightforward and rewarding experience. Important Notice Step up cannot provide the student's plan number. If you're unable to locate this number in your Florida Prepaid account, please make sure to contact your account holder directly. This is crucial because having the correct plan number ensures your transactions and communications are smooth and accurate. Let's discuss how you can find the 11 digit account number for your student's prepaid 529 tuition plan or prepaid investment plan. The first step is to log into the Florida Prepaid portal. Once there, direct your attention to the dashboard. We've included an example on the screen to help guide you. You'll be looking for the number marked as the plan number on the dashbo. You can also find this number by checking your Florida Prepaid statement. On your statement, you'll see the account number listed. We've highlighted an example on the screen which will guide you on where to look. Remember, having this number is essential for managing your Florida prepaid plans efficiently. Let's take a moment to explore the Florida 529 investment plan, an excellent opportunity for families to save for college in a way that's flexible, affordable and tax advantaged. This plan is designed to make higher education more attainable by easing the financial burden through smart forward thinking savings strategies. For families already enrolled in the Florida 529 investment plan, there's an added benefit. You can use your Student's Education Market Assistant or EMMA account to set up direct pay. This streamlined feature allows scholarship funds to be transferred directly to ensure a smooth direct payment process. Using the Florida 529 investment plan, it's crucial to include a detailed account statement. First, make sure the statement includes the scholarship student's first and last name. This is essential for verification. Next, don't forget to include the student's Florida 529 investment plan account number. This number acts like a unique identifier, allowing us to process payments accurately. Finally, note that the account type must be specified as either in UTMA or UGMA Account. These are specific types of accounts designed for minors investments which are important for compliance. To contribute scholarship funds for the Florida 529 investment plan, families should follow these steps. First, sign into your account in EMA and select Marketplace. Families should utilize the Find Providers feature in their account. Remember, the funds deposited into a Florida 529 investment plan are specifically for post secondary expenses. This means they cannot be used for K12 expenditures, including any costs at private schools. First, you'll need to select the student for whom the contribution is intended. Once you've made your selection, head over to the Service category box. This is where you'll choose the Florida 529 investment, also known as the College Savings Plan. After selecting the right category, click on Search. After you've selected the service provider, it's crucial to choose the correct location associated with that provider. As you prepare to contribute to your Florida 529 investment plan, it's important to carefully determine the exact amount you wish to allocate. You'll enter this amount on the screen shown here. Please note once this amount is submitted, it cannot be changed on this screen. Take a moment to carefully review the contribution amount you've entered to ensure its accuracy. Next, enter your Florida 529 investment plan account number in the Notes section. Precision is key. Any errors here may prevent your transaction from being processed successfully. Once all details are confirmed, select Reserve Funds. This action secures your contribution and prepares your account for the next steps in the process. Once you've added the FL529 investment or savings Plan to your cart, the next step is to select Reserve Funds to move forward to check out. After reserving your funds, an important step is to confirm that you give permission to send your contact information to the provider. You'll see a checkbox for this. Make sure to check yes and then hit the Confirm button. So how do your funds reach your Florida prepaid account? Start by logging into your Florida prepaid account and navigating to the Payment History page within the Customer Account Management Portal or camp. This page provides a detailed record of all incoming payments payments made toward your prepaid plans organized by date. You'll also be able to view the names of the students associated with each plan you own. Keep in mind that prepaid plan payments are due on the 20th of each month. However, as the account owner, you can make payments at any time. Once submitted, your payments will appear on this page and will be officially applied to your plan on the due date. This is a helpful way to stay informed and ensure your contributions are being processed correctly. Let's now focus on the key aspect of the prepaid account statement. The Billed column is crucial because it reflects the funds that have been applied to each prepaid plan. This means you can easily see how much has been allocated to each plan. As a review on this slide, we'd love to visually show you the five step process of contributing to your child's Florida Prepaid account. Parent initiates to the request through EMMA by choosing direct pay and FL prepaid as the provider. Step 2 After the parent initiates the request, Step up for Students takes over to review the submission. This involves verifying both the eligibility of the applicant and the availability of funds. It's a crucial step to ensure everything is in order before proceeding. Step 3 Once verified, step up for Students then sends the payment directly to Florida Prepaid. This action ensures that the funds are on their way to be processed without delay. Step 4 At this stage, Florida Prepaid steps in to apply the funds to the investment account. It's a seamless transition that ensures the funds are in the right place for your child's future. Finally reaching Step five, parents can confirm the transaction. You'll be able to view the updated balance in your Florida Prepaid portal. Keep in mind that all direct contribution requests must be submitted by the Fort 13th day of each month. This timing is crucial because these requests are sent to Florida Prepaid for verification. Before any payments are processed. Make sure the student's name on the scholarship account matches the name of the beneficiary on the Florida 529 investment account. This will ensure a smoother verification process. Also, it's important to note that any requests received after the 14th won't be sent for verification until the following month. Lets now transition and discuss the Florida Prepaid tuition Plan. It's important to highlight the key difference from the Florida 529 Investment Plan. Unlike the 529 Investment Plan, contributions to the Florida Prepaid tuition plan must be made out of pocket. These payments are not made directly from scholarship funds. However, once you've made a payment to your prepaid tuition plan, you are eligible to request a reimbursement through your student's Education Market Assistance and account. In the next section, we'll walk you through the reimbursement request process step by step. Contributions to a Stanley G. Tate Florida Prepaid College Program or tuition plan account need to be paid out of pocket and subsequently reimbursed to the parent. Please note that there is no option at this time for direct payments for Florida prepaid tuition plan accounts. Additionally, the name on the scholarship account must correspond with the name of the beneficiary of the tuition plan. Families opting to cover the FL prepaid tuition plan out of their own pockets may seek reimbursement from their student scholarship account for those expenses. Please take a moment to review the steps detailed in the following slides for submitting a reimbursement. First, log in to your EMA account. Select Reimbursements from the left panel of the dashboard. From the Reimbursements screen, select New from the drop down menu. Begin by selecting the Student, then click Continue to Receipt Invoice Upload. Click Browse or Drag and drop a file onto the icon to upload the invoice statement. Proof of Payment or Receipt for the student selected. Once your receipt is uploaded, a preview image is displayed. You can click Quick View to enlarge or click X to upload a different file. If you are ready to continue, click Continue to Item Service Selection. You will see a loading screen as the document is being processed and checked for line items. If EMMA was able to detect line items on the receipt invoice, then you'll be directed to the screen where there is a document preview on the left with the ability to zoom and open in a new window and a list of all detected itemsservices on the right. Use the checkboxes to select the items that you will want to submit for reimbursement. These items will be brought over to the next screen. Selections are not required at this step. If you continue to the next step without selecting items, you will then manually add the items on the next step. On this screen, you can review complete details for each line item. Click Continue to Additional Documents to proceed. Click Continue to Summary after adding or removing additional documents. Now review your purchases. Each line item's total is calculated off of the quantity in tax. If the information is correct, click Submit for Approval. The header has been updated to include the reimbursement number. If your requested amount exceeds the balance in your student's account, an on screen error will appear as shown below. The screen will refresh and will go back to the request form so you can adjust the amount. When you adjust the amount, please add a comment explaining the requested amount no longer ties to the attached documentation because the reimbursement was capped at the amount of available funding. To help guide you through the reimbursement process in emma, Step up for Students provides two valuable resources. First, there's a detailed manual titled how to Submit a Reimbursement in ema. This step by step guide walks you through each part of the process, ensuring you know exactly what to do and where to go within the platform. Second, for those who prefer visual instructions, we recommend watching the YouTube video Families Submitting Reimbursements in ema. This video offers a clear, easy to follow demonstration of the reimbursement process from start to finish. Whether you prefer reading or watching, these tools are designed to make the process simple and stress free. Be sure to review them before submitting your reimbursement request. Before we conclude this presentation, we would like to clarify some important restrictions associated with the management of scholarship funds in the Florida 529 College Savings Account. According to section 1009.981 of the Florida Statutes, which governs the Florida College Savings Program, these are some key points to consider. It is essential to note that the account owner is unable to change the beneficiary if the account contains scholarship funds. This rule ensures that the funds are utilized solely for the intended educational expenses of the beneficiary. Fund Usage Any privately contributed funds in the account will be utilized first prior to accessing scholarship funds. This strategy maximizes the use of privately sourced funds while safeguarding scholarship funds for critical expenses. If a Florida 529 college savings account is closed, all accumulated funds, including interest, will be returned to the open scholarship account or to the State of Florida if the scholarship account has also been closed. Likewise, if the scholarship account is closed, any remaining scholarship contributions will revert to the state. Separate Management for individuals with existing Florida529 college savings plans, it is vital to understand that scholarship funds are managed separate account from private funds that are invested. Please stay tuned. We're trying to make this the best experience possible and updates to this process will be coming soon. Thank you for joining us today and for taking the time to learn more about how to maximize your unique ability Scholarship Through Florida Prepaid Plans if you have any questions or need additional support, our Engagement center is here to help. You can reach us Monday through Friday from 8am to 5pm Eastern Standard Time. Feel free to chat with us directly through our website or give us a call. We're happy to assist you every step of the way.