September is College Savings Month and College Savings Iowa is reminding families of the importance of starting early with a giveaway. Iowa residents have until Thursday, Sept. 30 to register children under the age of 18 into the contest with one winner receiving a $1,000 contribution to their College Savings Iowa account and a new iPad. To register, simply visit www.Iowa529Contest.com and follow the on-screen instruction. While you are there, you can spend 10 minutes and $25 to create an account for your future college student. College Savings Month is a national campaign created to show how impactful early investments in plans like College Savings Iowa can be. Qualified withdrawals from the 529 plan are state tax free and can be used to cover education costs like tuition, room and board, supplies and more. Additionally, contributions to plans up to $3,474 dollars for each beneficiary are tax-deductible. The program is administered by State Treasurer, Michael Fitzgerald, and currently has more than 276,000 accounts with $6.3 billion in assets. Since its creation in 1998, over $3.5 billion worth of qualified withdrawals have been used to help pay for higher education expenses.