In the State of the Union address President Obama presented his plan for two years of free community college. Within the same week the president announced that he would be raising taxes on the 529 college savings program.
This comes as a shock to the over a million middle-class families who use the tax-free program to help send their children to college. The median income for families that utilize the 529 accounts is $140,000 a year.
"There is a pretty substantial down payment in the context of these reforms that's made to help middle class families afford a college education," said Press Secretary Josh Earnest.
The White House's response to families who are concerned about the tax increase: send your kids to community college, use the "free" two years, and then use the remaining money in the 529 account to pay for the remaining years at non-community college.
