North Carolina General Statutes 116-209.25. Parental Savings Trust Fund
(a) Policy. – The General Assembly of North Carolina hereby finds and declares that encouraging parents and other interested parties to save for the education expenses of eligible students is fully consistent with and furthers the long-established policy of the State to encourage, promote, and assist education as more fully set forth in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 116-201(a).
(b) Parental Savings Trust Fund. – There is established a parental savings trust fund to be administered by the State Education Assistance Authority to enable qualified parents and other interested parties to save funds to meet the costs of education expenses of eligible students in accordance with section 529 of the Code. For purposes of this section, the term “Code” has the same meaning as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-228.90
(c) Contributions to the Trust Funds. – The Authority is authorized to accept, hold, invest, and disburse contributions, and interest earned on such contributions, from qualified parents and other interested parties as trustee of the Parental Savings Trust Fund. The Authority shall hold all contributions to the Parental Savings Trust Fund, and any earnings thereon, in a separate trust fund and shall invest the contributions in accordance with this section. The assets of the Parental Savings Trust Fund shall at all times be preserved, invested, and expended solely for the purposes of the trust fund and shall be held in trust for the parents and other interested parties and their designated beneficiaries. Nothing in this Article shall be construed to prohibit the Authority from accepting, holding, and investing contributions from persons who reside outside of North Carolina. Neither the contributions to the Parental Savings Trust Fund, nor the earnings thereon, shall be considered State moneys, assets of the State, or State revenue for any purpose.
(c1) Investments. – The Authority shall determine an appropriate investment strategy for the Parental Savings Trust Fund. The strategy may include a combination of fixed income assets and preferred or common stocks issued by any company incorporated, or otherwise located within or without the United States, or other appropriate investment instruments to achieve long-term return through a combination of capital appreciation and current income. The Authority may deposit all or any portion of the Parental Savings Trust Fund for investment either with the State Treasurer, or in the individual, common, or collective trust funds of an investment manager or managers that meet the requirements of this subsection. Contributions to the Parental Savings Trust Fund on deposit with the State Treasurer shall be invested by the State Treasurer as authorized in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 147-69.2(b)(1) through (6) and the applicable provisions of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 147-69.3 Contributions to the Parental Savings Trust Fund may be invested in the individual, common, or collective trust funds of an investment manager provided that the investment manager meets both of the following conditions:
(1) The investment manager has assets under management of at least one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) at all times.
(2) The investment manager is subject to the jurisdiction and regulation of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
(d) Administration of the Trust Fund. – The Authority is authorized to develop and perform all functions necessary and desirable to administer the Parental Savings Trust Fund and to provide such other services as the Authority shall deem necessary to facilitate participation in the Parental Savings Trust Fund. The Authority is further authorized to obtain the services of such investment advisors or program managers as may be necessary for the proper administration and marketing and investment strategy for the Parental Savings Trust Fund.
(e) Loan Program. – The Authority is authorized to develop and administer a loan program in conjunction with the Parental Savings Trust Fund to provide loan assistance to qualified parents and interested parties in order to facilitate the postsecondary education of eligible students. All funds appropriated to, or otherwise received by the Authority for loans under this section, all funds received as repayment of such loans, and all interest earned on these funds shall be placed in an institutional trust fund. This institutional trust fund may be used only for loans made to qualified parents and interested parties who contributed to the Parental Savings Trust Fund and administrative costs associated with the recovery of funds advanced under this loan program.
(f) Limitations. – Nothing in this section shall be construed to create any obligation of the Authority, the State Treasurer, the State, or any agency or instrumentality of the State to guarantee for the benefit of any parent, other interested party, or designated beneficiary the rate of return or other return for any contribution to the Parental Savings Trust Fund and the payment of interest or other return on any contribution to the Parental Savings Trust Fund. ?(1996, 2nd Ex. Sess., c. 18, s. 16.7; 2000-177, s. 11; 2001-243, s. 1; 2002-159, s. 19; 2018-5, s. 38.1(i).)
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 116-209.25
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Authority: means the State Education Assistance Authority created by this Article or, if the Authority is abolished, the board, body, commission or agency succeeding to its principal functions, or on whom the powers given by this Article to the Authority shall be conferred by law;
(3) "Bond resolution" or "resolution" when used in relation to the issuance of bonds is deemed to mean either any resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds or any trust agreement or other instrument securing any bonds;
(4) "Bonds" or "revenue bonds" means the obligations authorized to be issued by the Authority under this Article, which may consist of revenue bonds, revenue refunding bonds, bond anticipation notes and other notes and obligations, evidencing the Authority's obligation to repay borrowed money from revenues, funds and other money pledged or made available therefor by the Authority under this Article;
(5) "Eligible institution" with respect to student loans, has the same meaning as the term has in Section 1085 of Title 20 of the United States Code;
(6) "Eligible institution" with respect to grants and work-study programs, includes the constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina, all state-supported institutions organized and administered pursuant to Chapter 115A of the N. See North Carolina General Statutes 116-201
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- this Article: means Article 23 of Chapter 116 of the N. See North Carolina General Statutes 116-201
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- United States: shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3