(The Center Square) – The cost of pre-paying tuition and other expenses for colleges and state universities is going down.
The Florida Prepaid College Board, effective Thursday, lowered the monthly cost of the plans by up to 25%, a release says. This year’s enrollment plan runs through April 30.
“The price reductions are primarily due to successive years of lower than anticipated tuition and fee increases for Florida colleges and state universities,” the board said in a statement. “While Florida families continue to face inflation across many areas of everyday life, the lower plan prices will allow even more Florida families to prepare for the cost of higher education for their children.”
The four-year University Plan starts at less than $135/month and the two-year College Plan is $39 per month, which is the lowest in the last 10 years, the release said.
“Florida families have been squeezed by housing and food costs over the past few years, and we are glad to be able to ease their budget concerns by providing even more affordable plan prices,” said Kevin Thompson, executive director of Florida Prepaid.
The prepaid plans allow families to lock in a price plan for college costs ahead of time and make monthly payments. The plans are backed by the state of Florida and students can use their plans up to 10 years after high school graduation.
Current customers who purchased plans since 2008 but haven’t used them yet, will also benefit from the price reductions, the board said.
“More than 280,000 existing customers will have plan prices lowered by more than $1.3 billion,” the news release said. “Nearly half of these customers now have their plan paid in full and will receive refunds totaling more than $350 million. The average refund per customer is $2,600.”
Under the prepaid plan, if the student decides to attend an out-of state college or university, the plan will pay the same amount as it would have paid for a public university in Florida, the release said.
