CHET Baby Scholars 529 College Savings Program $250 Bonus in Connecticut

The CHET Baby Scholars 529 College Savings Program will give all newborns and newly-adopted children in Connecticut up to $250 in bonus funds toward future college costs.

CHET Baby Scholars is a program of CHET, the State of Connecticut’s 529, tax-advantaged college savings plan.

Every baby born in Connecticut on or after January 1, 2014, who is less than 1 year old, and every child adopted in Connecticut on or after January 1, 2014, no later than the first anniversary of the adoption, is eligible for the CHET Baby Scholars program.

Initial $100 Bonus:

You just need to open your 529 College Savings Account and opt-in to CHET Baby Scholars to receive the initial $100 bonus into your account.

Secondary $150 Bonus:

Then, you need to add $150 in additional contributions to your 529 College Savings Account by the time your child is 4 years old (or by the fourth anniversary of the adoption), and an extra $150 bonus match will be added to your account.

That’s a total of $250 in bonus funds that you can get for your child with the CHET Baby Scholars program.

Visit this Promotional Page to open your CHET 529 College Savings Account online or to start the paper application process before your child’s first birthday or first anniversary of adoption.

Just remember that you’ll need to opt-in to the CHET Baby Scholars program, which you can do by checking a box on the paper application or by completing the online form at the above promotional link.

Once you open your account and opt-in to CHET Baby Scholars, CHET will automatically deposit the initial $100 into your account.

The contribution will appear in your account after the end of the quarter in which you signed up.

Thereafter, for all accounts opted-in to CHET Baby Scholars, a review will occur on a quarterly basis after the initial $100 CHET Baby Scholars funding is deposited.

Once at least $150 in additional contributions is received into the account, the additional $150 match will be triggered.

Any earnings growth will not be counted toward the $150, as the full $150 must be actual contributions.

Once the match occurs, you will receive a confirmation statement from CHET showing that the $150 match contribution was made.

The beneficiary must be a state of Connecticut resident at the time the CHET new account application is submitted or at the time the account owner opts-in an existing CHET account for that beneficiary.

Please note that no family income restrictions apply, as families of all incomes are eligible.

The legislation provides funding for CHET Baby Scholars at no cost to the taxpayer.

The funds are residual from the now defunct Connecticut Student Loan Foundation.

The CHET Baby Scholars program will continue until the funds are used.

CHET Baby Scholars contributions are dependent upon funding limitations as overseen by the Office of the State Treasurer and can be reduced or stopped at the Office’s discretion at any time for any reason.

If you don’t live in Connecticut, then you may be interested in this 529 NextGen $50 Bonus from Merrill Edge.