Washington, Aug 25 (IANS) US President Donald Trump has expanded the use of tax-advantaged education savings accounts to cover home-schooling costs, presenting the measure as part of a broader effort to give American parents more control over their children’s education.
Trump said Monday that families could use 529 education savings accounts for home-school expenses for the first time. The annual withdrawal limit for elementary and secondary education expenses has also been doubled to $20,000.
“And now, for the first time ever, families can also have their 529 accounts to support homeschool education,” Trump said at a back-to-school event in the White House Rose Garden.
The expansion was enacted through the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed on July 4, 2025. The law also allows families to use the savings for education at private and religious schools.
“As part of the great, big, beautiful bill, we have massively expanded 529 education saving accounts tremendously, doubling the annual withdrawal cap from K-12 expenses to $20,000 a year,” Trump said.
The President invited a home-schooling family from Jacksonville, Florida, to describe how the policy could help parents educating their children outside traditional schools.
The father, identified as Hubert, said he and his wife, Marina, had home-schooled their three children for about a decade. Their eldest child was entering ninth grade, their daughter was entering sixth grade and their youngest son was beginning third grade.
Hubert said he had also been home-schooled from kindergarten through Grade 12 after his parents made that decision in 1988.
“Homeschooling is something that is very personal to me,” he said. “Back in 1988, my parents made the decision to homeschool me, and so I was homeschooled from kindergarten all the way through the 12th grade.”
He said home-schooling families often depended on one income because one parent remained responsible for teaching the children.
“Being able to have the extra resources to provide them with their needs, and also the option to support our children in the way that we see fit, means the world,” he said.
Trump linked the 529 expansion to the Education Freedom Tax Credit, another provision of the legislation. The credit allows taxpayers to receive up to $1,700 for contributions to non-profit organisations that provide scholarships for education-related services.
Those scholarships can cover tuition, books and other basic educational expenses at public, private or religious elementary and secondary schools.
“We want every parent to have the power to send their child to a high quality school that shares their values,” Trump said.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the administration’s policies were intended to restore parents as the primary decision-makers in their children’s lives.
“Children belong to their parents, not the federal government,” McMahon said.
Trump also highlighted newly created investment accounts for children. He said every eligible newborn would receive $1,000 and cited more than $6 billion in private commitments from Michael and Susan Dell.
The 529 plans are state-sponsored savings programmes that offer tax advantages when funds are used for qualified education expenses. Originally associated mainly with college costs, their permitted uses have gradually been expanded to include some elementary and secondary school expenses and certain forms of training.
–IANS
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