Permanent Tax Benefits Fuel Interest In 529 College Savings Plans

BOSTON, September 17, 2007 - One year after the passage of the Pension Protection Act, Fidelity Investments reports record 529 plan business growth with over 100,000 new 529 plan accounts opened between September 2006 and August 2007. Plan contributions reached more than $2.4 billion, a 22 percent increase from the year prior.

In addition, 529 plan assets rose 59 percent over the same time period from $8.5 billion to $13.5 billion.

529 college savings plans received a significant boost when the Pension Protection Act made permanent the provision that allows account holders to take federal income tax-free distributions for qualified education expenses.

"With the average Fidelity 529 account balance now over $15,000 and more than half of new account beneficiaries four years old or younger, it appears the new tax changes have increased interest in 529 plans and encouraged families to start saving earlier and contributing regularly to their accounts," said Joe Ciccariello, vice president of college planning, Fidelity Personal Investments.

In 2003, the National Association of Treasurers petitioned Congress to designate September as "College Savings Month," which serves as an annual reminder for families to begin saving to meet the rising costs of a college education. Today, the estimated annual cost for the average four-year college has increased to $22,000¹, and with these higher costs comes an increase in student loan debt. In 2006, the average graduate from a public college owed $17,250 in student loans², more than twice the debt graduates owed in 1996.

"Saving for college can be challenging when you consider that many Americans are also juggling increased living expenses and saving for retirement," said Jeff Troutman, vice president of college planning, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company, Inc.. "We encourage families to regularly review their college savings goals and strategies, whether they are self-directed investors or work with an advisor."

Fidelity is a leading provider of 529 plans. The firm manages the Fidelity Advisor 529 Plan and UNIQUE College Investing Plan for the State of New Hampshire, the U.Fund College Investing Plan for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Delaware College Investment Plan, the Fidelity Arizona College Savings Plan, and the ScholarShare College Savings Plan and the ScholarShare Advisor College Savings Plan for the State of California.

For more information on Fidelity-managed 529 Plans, investors may visit Fidelity's Web site at www.fidelity.com/college, call 1-800-544-1914 or speak with their advisor. Advisors can find out more by visiting https://advisor.fidelity.com or calling Fidelity at 1-800-544-9999.

¹Trends in College Pricing: 2006, College Board

²Student Debt Burden, The American Association of State Colleges and Universities, August 2006

About Fidelity Investments

Fidelity Investments is one of the world's largest providers of financial services, with custodied assets of $3.2 trillion, including managed assets of $1.5 trillion as of July 31, 2007. Fidelity offers investment management, retirement planning, brokerage, and human resources and benefits outsourcing services to more than 23 million individuals and institutions as well as through 5,500 financial intermediary firms. The firm is the largest mutual fund company in the United States, the No. 1 provider of workplace retirement savings plans, the largest mutual fund supermarket and a leading online brokerage firm. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit www.fidelity.com.

About Fidelity Investments Institutional Services

Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company provides investment management services through investment professionals at financial institutions nationwide, including wirehouses, regional and independent broker/dealers, banks, trust companies and insurance companies. The company offers Fidelity Advisor Funds®, Variable Insurance Product (VIP) Portfolios, systematic investment plans, institutional money market funds and a comprehensive line of retirement products and services. Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company's total assets under management were $272.1 billion as of July 31, 2007. For more information, advisors may visit https://advisor.fidelity.com or calling Fidelity at 1-800-544-9999.

Fidelity Investments manages seven state‐sponsored 529 Plans, all open to residents of any state. The ScholarShare College Savings Plan, the ScholarShare Advisor College Savings Plan, the U.Fund® College Investing Plan, the UNIQUE College Investing Plan, the Fidelity Advisor 529 Plan, the Delaware College Investment Plan and the Fidelity Arizona College Savings Plan are offered by the ScholarShare Investment Board, an agency of the state of California, the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority (MEFA), the State of New Hampshire, the State of Delaware, and the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education, respectively, and managed by Fidelity Investments. If you or the designated beneficiary is not a California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Delaware, or Arizona resident, you may want to consider, before investing, whether your state or the designated beneficiary's home state offers its residents a Plan with alternate state tax advantages or other benefits.

Units of the portfolios are municipal securities and may be subject to market volatility and fluctuation.

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Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC,
100 Summer Street, Boston MA 02110

Please carefully consider each Plan's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing. For this and other information, call or write to Fidelity or visit fidelity.com for a free Fact Kit or request a free Offering Statement from your advisor or through advisor.fidelity.com. Read it carefully before you invest or send money.