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As an annual signup deadline nears, concerns about the program's future could mean a record enrollment now.
By ANITA KUMAR, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published January 29, 2003
Brent and Elisabeth Juren considered paying for their children's college tuition with prepaid contracts but they never filled out the paperwork. Then they heard the program might be eliminated.
The Jurens mailed applications for their three youngest children Saturday, less than a week before the Jan. 31 deadline to to sign up for the popular Florida Prepaid College Plan in the 2002-03 enrollment period.
They weren't alone: Tens of thousands of people have inquired about the program after news broke in November that drastic tuition increases could bankrupt the prepaid system.
"There's been a lot of talk about change to the program," said Juren, 43, of Riverview in Hillsborough County. "And that has motivated a lot of people to make the deadline."
More than 44,000 people called about the program in November and December, twice as many as in the same period of 2001. Almost 93,000 people accessed the program's Web site during the same two months, three times as many as in the previous year.
About 70,000 enrollment kits have been mailed. But officials said they can't calculate how many people actually enrolled until Friday's deadline, though they expect a record. Last year, 73,000 plans were purchased.
There's no guarantee that the program will still be around for the people enrolling this year. State law guarantees that the tuition will be covered only for those who are in college or are within five years of entering college.
The largest state college savings system in the nation, Florida's prepaid program allows people to lock in future college education at today's prices at one of the state's 11 public universities or 28 community colleges. The equivalent value also can be applied toward costs at private or out-of-state colleges.
The Florida Board of Education, which until recently oversaw higher education in Florida, approved a controversial plan last month that would give individual public universities the authority to control their own tuition.
If the Legislature approves that change in the spring, the prepaid program could end because it doesn't anticipate such huge jumps in tuition. It could last four more years with the $379-million it has in reserves.
"There is no question that additional funding is needed to keep pace with the growing number of college-bound students and to provide Florida students a quality college education," Stanley Tate, chairman of the Florida Prepaid College Board, said in a statement this month. "However, adequately funding higher education should not have, as a consequence, the effect of eliminating the Florida Prepaid College Program."
Tate, who had been vocal in his opposition to the changes, has declined interview requests in recent weeks and did not return phone calls for comment.
Education Commissioner Jim Horne is trying to assure parents that the program will continue in some form.
"It's not the end," Horne said. "I guarantee you, it's not the end. We'll probably make some changes but we'll hold onto the integrity of the system."
Aaron and Susan Perlut of St. Petersburg planned to buy contracts for their twins who are due in May. But they will miss this week's deadline because they aren't allowed to buy them before the babies are born. They fear the program won't exist next year.
"We looked at it as a terrific opportunity," said Perlut, 31, "but now we have to find some other means of making college affordable."
If changes are made to the prepaid program, which is privately operated but guaranteed by the state, Horne and other officials have pledged that all 736,000 existing contracts would be honored.
But that pledge is not in state law, which only guarantees tuition for those in college or within five years of college. Others get refunds with interest if the program ends, though the Legislature could change the law to protect the benefits of younger students.
This year, 45,000 students use prepaid tuition in Florida. In 2003-04, that number will increase to 66,000. In 2004-05, it is expected to reach 80,000 students.
Margit Crowell, a 40-year-old single mother in Spring Hill, bought a plan last year for her 3-year-old daughter. She hopes her contract will be honored, but she's not sure.
"I hope it doesn't come to that," she said. "This is one of the best things the state has ever done. ... I'm not hounding them about it though because it doesn't sound like they know what will happen yet."