Can 529 plans be used for overseas education?

Can 529 plans be used for overseas education?

• I have two small children. I have been considering setting up a 529 plan for them. The problem is that I am Irish and my children are automatically Irish citizens. I'm concerned that they may choose to go to college in Ireland instead of the US. If they did, would they be able to use the 529 plan money for an Irish college? If no, is there another college saving option?

• Answer:

  It appears that some non-US schools are eligible. To be eligible, they must have a "school code" as defined in the first link. Yahoo won't let me post my second link. I don't know why. It's the Federal Student Financial Aid website -- www(dot)fafsa(dot)ed(dot)gov. Click on "Find my school codes". Select "2007-2008" and "Search". Click "Next". Select "Foreign Country" under State and click "Next". You should get all of the "Foreign Country" schools that have codes for the 2007-2008 year. (I get 499 results and that makes me suspicious that my results were truncated. If a school you are interested in is not there, I suggest that you search for it individually.) This should give you some idea of the availability of 529 for non-US schools. Clearly, the list is subject to change but you can contact some of the schools and see how long they have had a "school code" for some reassurance.