By choosing the Tuition Level that is most similar to the type of school or even the specific school you'd like your beneficiary to attend, you will be able to better assess how much you need to save and how close you are to your savings goal. For each Tuition Level there is a GSP credit rate that will be applied to each contribution to determine how many GSP credits your contribution equals. For example, if the GSP credit rate for Tuition Level X was $100 and you contributed $500, your contribution would equal 5 GSP credits at Tuition Level X. For most four-year colleges, 96 GSP credits will cover four years of tuition. So if you have 48 GSP credits you are half way to saving enough for tuition at that Tuition level. Your Tuition Level also determines your initial earnings rate. When you change your Tuition Level or the PA 529 changes it because your beneficiary is attending a publicly funded school which is a different Tuition Level, the change is made retroactively and the number of GSP credits, your earnings rate, and the dollar value of your account when used for qualified expenses are very likely to also change.
