For Immediate Release
Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013
 
The University of Alaska College Savings Plan is expanding its efforts of underwriting important youth-oriented organizations statewide by sponsoring the Fairbanks Children’s Museum. 

The four-year sponsorship, announced during the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce luncheon Tuesday, recognizes the complementary missions of the children’s museum and the college savings plan--cultivating a love for life-long learning and providing thousands of Alaska families a tax-advantaged way to save for their children’s college education. 

The UA College Savings Plan also recently sponsored an event at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, is a regular sponsor of the statewide Spirit of Youth Award and sponsors, in partnership with the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education, the statewide “I Know I Can” read-aloud program aimed at second graders in schools across the state. 

All of these efforts work to educate parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles about the benefits of investing in the UA College Savings Plan, which can be used at any UA campus and any qualified educational institution in the country.   

“It is never too early to set an expectation that learning and training beyond high school is essential in today’s world. Research shows that if parents or other adult family members put as little as $50 a month aside for college, the likelihood of that child attending some level of postsecondary education and job training is much higher,” said Lael Oldmixon, executive director of the UA College Savings Plan. “More education gives the child more options later in life. We want to help the parents and children who visit the Fairbanks Children’s Museum learn more about the benefits of college savings plans.” 

The sponsorship brings the Fairbanks Children’s Museum a step closer toward a permanent location. The children’s museum will open a temporary “mini-museum” at the UA Museum of the North, on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. The hands-on children’s exhibits will open Oct. 1. 

“By sponsoring the children’s museum at the level we refer to as ‘Herculean Mammoth of Epic Proportions,’ the UA College Savings Plan helps us fill a hole in the community for fun, educational family activities and creative outlets, especially during Alaska’s long, dark winters,” said Fairbanks Children’s Museum Executive Director Brenda Riley.

Children’s museums recognize the importance of play and discovery in a child’s development. Playing allows children to interact with others, learn, explore, communicate and make sense of the world. Through interactive exhibits and creative outlets, children’s museums bring out a child’s natural curiosity. In exchange for the sponsorship, the UA College Savings Plan will display a plaque at the children’s museum and be included in all of the museum’s marketing materials. Riley expects 35,000 visitors will come to the museum annually.

The UA College Savings Plan is one of the top-rated 529 plans in the country and helps thousands of Alaska families, and many families from other states, save for future college expenses. T. Rowe Price, a well-known financial services provider, manages the plan on behalf of UA. Accounts in the plan grow tax-free and distributions from accounts are tax free when used to pay for qualified college expenses at any institution, including the University of Alaska. 

–30–

For more information, call Lael Oldmixon at 907-450-8115
NR 17-13