BRANDON, Fla. — Fifth Third Bank awarded 72 Tampa Bay babies born on May 3 with scholarships worth $1,053.

The scholarships allow the families to open a Florida 529 Savings Plan, which helps parents start saving for their child’s education.

This coincides with National College Savings Day on May 29.

The Florida 529 plan is a tax-advantaged savings plan designed for education expenses. The earnings are tax free when used for qualified education expenses. Participants usually invest in the plan for long-term growth to coincide with the year their child will use the funds.

According to bestcolleges.com, the average total cost for a year of college at a four-year school — including tuition and fees, on-campus room and board, books, supplies, and other expenses — is more than $36,436; or roughly $146,000 over four years.

What You Need To Know

  • May 29th is National 529 College Savings Day

  • 72 scholarships, each worth $1,053, were awarded to Tampa Bay newborns and families to open college savings accounts with Fifth Third Bank

  • According to bestcolleges.com,  the average total cost for a year of college at a four-year school — including tuition and fees, on-campus room and board, books, supplies, and other expenses — is more than $36,436; or roughly $146,000 over the course of four years.

  • Applicants can enroll for the Florida 529 Savings Plan until June 23, 2024, and get $50 into their new account.

Dr. David Feldman, an economics professor at the College of William & Mary, researched and wrote two books — Why Does College Cost so Much? and The Road Ahead for America’s Colleges and Universities — that examine college costs, the demand for higher education and the role of policy toward higher education.

“Our costs are rising year in and year out because we have to buy, you know, everything from labour to paper clips in markets out there,” said Feldman. “But our industry doesn’t get productivity growth that holds down cost. What that means is that the amount that a university needs to spend per full-time student needs to rise one, two, one and a half percent faster than the inflation rate in order to hold quality constant over time.”

He said there is a difference between cost and price. Cost is what the school spends to produce a year of education and the price is what you pay for it.

“We have a variant of the airline model here where students are paying all sorts of different prices. At some places, that distinction is driven 100% by financial need,” said Feldman.

Feldman said Florida has some of the least expensive public universities.

Kameko Cospy’s son was one of the scholarship recipients. She hopes saving money for college now will give her son an advantage in the future, no matter what the price or cost of higher education is down the road.

“I was like, ‘Wow, he got a scholarship way before I did,’” Cospy said. “That’s one of the biggest things that I thought about because I want him to, like, attend, you know, private school and, you know, the best daycare center and things like that,” she added. “So that’s mainly the stuff that I was looking into while he was still inside the womb.”

Floridians who enroll in the Florida 529 Savings Plan by June 23 will get $50 into their new account.

You can also enter to win a $1,000 Florida 529 Savings Plan scholarship through myfloridaprepaid.com.