Parents are still having a difficult time accessing money they have saved in a Maryland college savings program, despite a claim by program administrators that a glitch has been fixed.
“I still don’t have any access to that money,” said Brian Savoie, a father impacted by the problem. “I’ve been trying to figure out where to get the money to pay for my son’s tuition.”
For several months, hundreds of people have been unable to take money out of their Maryland Prepaid College Trust accounts, due to an interest calculation glitch within the program.
Maryland 529, the agency that runs the program, said Friday that the glitch had been fixed, but Savoie said he was still stuck in the same situation.
“My account has not been updated,” Savoie said. “There’s still a lot of confusion out there among account holders.”
In a statement, Maryland 529 Executive Director Anthony Savia said that 419 out of 480 accounts that reported having such problems had been reviewed and addressed.
“It has taken time to resolve this issue because it was important to ensure that the trust accounts were carefully prioritized and assessed,” Savia said. “Quality control measures were put in place to correct the calculation and ensure accurate reporting going forward.”
Savia said he was confident that “the calculation formula has been corrected.”
WTOP reached out to Maryland 529 for comment on Savoie’s ongoing concerns, but Savia’s office said he was not available.
“As you can understand, his priority right now is working with the consultants and customer support staff to distribute information to the individual account holders,” Savia’s office said.
According to Maryland 529, account holders have always been able to access the money they deposited, but the glitch made interest they earned in their accounts inaccessible.
For Savoie, that interest totals about $20,000.
“I feel like the rug was pulled out from under me,” Savoie said. “It’s hugely stressful.”
