The future of a popular program in 18 states that allows parents to prepay college tuition at public schools is shaky because of recent stock market losses and a wave of tuition increases.
The Wall Street collapse shrank the value of many investment funds, out of which the prepaid tuition plans disburse tuition and fees. At the same time, states are raising tuition to help balance their budgets in response to declining tax revenue caused by the recession.
“Just about all these programs are going through similar turmoil,” said Joseph Hurley, founder of savingforcollege.com, a Web site devoted to financing a college education. “It's the same dynamic: investments are not keeping up with tuition increases. The irony is, it makes demand for these programs even stronger for families but that popularity translates into more financial stress for these programs.”
Read the full report Tracking the Recession: Tuition Programs in Danger on Stateline.org.