George Schott of Legg Mason is excited about the changing tide in the 529 college-savings universe. With the recent news of a surge in usage by investors, Schott believes that opportunities are plentiful for high-net-worth advisors to build their business by unlocking the hidden potential of 529 college-savings plans.

Case in point: Schott, the director of College Savings at Legg Mason, tells the story of a landscape architect client of one of the financial advisors on the firm's Scholar's Choice College Savings program platform. Theclient sought assistance from his advisor in opening a $40,000 college savings account for his nephew. In the process of meeting with the client and opening the account, the advisor learned the client had plans of his own: He wanted to go into golf course management. The financial advisor explained that the architect could fund his own education and recommended a golf course management program at North Carolina State at Raleigh, which qualified for 529 funds. At the end of the visit, the client not only opened an account for his nephew, but also opened another $40,000 account to pursue his dream.

This scenario marks a change in how financial advisors view the flexibility of 529 college savings plans. And, this new approach comes after 529 assets saw a significant dip in 2008 to $88 billion. That's all changed however. In a May 2011 report — 529 Plans and Distribution Analysis — by the Financial Research Corporation (FRC), 529 accounts nationwide now hold a record $146 billion in assets. That's up 66% from the low watermark days in 2008. And, those assets are expected to grow to approximately $237 billion by the end of 2015.

Since the market crisis of 2008, saving for college is now a priority, with net flows into 529 College Saving Plans increasing 75% in the last two years. "When we look at the net sales for the entire industry, ending this first quarter in 2011, they were up 7%, compared to the same quarter a year ago," Schott says. "If we look at first quarter comparisons, it's the best sales performance that the total industry has seen since 2007," he adds. "The industry has certainly regained its momentum."

This surge promises to provide a unique opportunity for advisors to build on their book of business, Schott says. "What's important here is that advisors have a tremendous opportunity to help their clients understand how 529s are the best way to achieve one of their most important financial goals, which is paying for college," Schott says. "To the extent that advisors seize on that opportunity — and many of them do — the future is very bright."

Yet, getting to that bright future also requires advisors to take a closer look at some of the overlooked opportunities that 529 plans offer. "Successful advisors in their total practice think differently about 529s," Schott says, adding that Legg Mason offers special techniques — five secrets of success — to uncover hidden potential. "What we really want to do is share best practices with advisors," he says. "We like to think about 529s, not just as a product, but as a way to help advisors and their clients achieve this most important goal."

And those secrets — embracing the complexity of 529s; connecting college funding to other financial needs; reaching out to other family members; expanding the definition of college age; and aligning one's business with related financial professionals — have led to success for many of the advisors on the Scholar's Choice platform.

For Schott, the landscape architect client represents expanding the definition of college age. Career expansion, re-entering the workforce, advanced degrees and active retirements all spell new ways to use 529 plans.

UBS advisor, Montague "Cosmo" Boyd, took two of those routes to 529 plan success — embracing complexity and connecting college funding to other financial needs. Boyd had clients-a very wealthy, childless couple — come to his Atlanta office for a visit. The husband, 62, and his wife, 52, wanted to discuss their estate planning needs. "If you're an FA, you live in the land of horror stories, and your goal is to make sure none of those horror stories happen to any of your clients," he says. The potential horror story for this client, however, was dying and leaving a wife that was 10 years his junior to grapple with his siblings and 15 nieces and nephews over his estate. "None of them are entitled to that money. But when people die, something clicks in their brains and they feel more entitled because they are blood relatives," Boyd says. His solution for the couple was to place funds for the family members into 529 accounts.