Comment on FR Doc # E8-00859

I am writing to support allowing persons other than individuals to contribution to Section 529 Plans, as defined in 26 USC 529(b)(1). When companies award scholarships to individuals who are several years away from matriculation in college, they often seek a way of providing the funds to the student without having to maintain the funds themselves for many years. Section 529 plans provide an excellent solution, since the plans are dedicated to higher education and allow the funds to appreciate in the interim. I am also writing to support allowing individuals to roll over UGMA/UTMA accounts into custodial Section 529 plan accounts. (In a custodial 529 plan account, both the account owner and the beneficiary are the same individual and the account has the same titling as the original UGMA/UTMA account. In some states the account owner is restricted from changing the beneficiary on such accounts.) It is evident from Section 480(f)(3)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended by Section 604(a)(5) of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, that Congress contemplated the existence of custodial 529 plan accounts. That section of the Higher Education Act specifies how a 529 plan account will be treated as an asset in need analysis, "regardless of whether the owner of the account is the student or the parent". I would argue in favor of permitting tax-free rollovers from UGMA/UTMA accounts into custodial section 529 plan accounts, just as this is permitted for Series EE Bonds issued after December 31, 1989 and all Series I Bonds.