529 plans are one of the best US tax-advantaged vehicles for college savings. While 529 plans are sponsored by a US state, you do not need to be resident in a state to participate in that state’s 529 plans, nor will investing in a state’s 529 plan limit you to that state’s schools. In fact, college-bound Americans overseas may be pleased to know that the US department of education publishes a list of foreign universities on (415 schools as of 2018-2019 school year) which may qualify as places to study abroad using your 529 plan savings. Earlier, I explained why I recommend the Utah 529 as the best 529 plan for Americans living in Hong Kong and other low-tax jurisdictions overseas.
Updated link to the list of the 2019-2020 Federal school codes, including overseas schools.
To get the updated list, you can go to fafsa.ed.gov and go to “School Code Search” and under state select “Foreign Country”. You’ll notice that other than Canada and Mexico, this site uses the country code “FC” for all other countries, which I believe simply means “Foreign Country”. These lists and links are for informational purposes only are NOT TAX ADVICE. Please contact your own tax professionals with any questions, or ask us for a referral to a US tax professional we recommend.
For ease of reference, I have pasted a static copy of the list for searching below:
Image Source: GFP