Florida Prepaid: Are you covered for full tuition and fees?

If you prepaid for college a few years ago, there?s a good chance you?ll need to shell out a lot more money for your child?s tuition and fees.

Anyone who bought a plan before October 2010 isn?t fully covered for tuition and fees, unless they bought supplemental plans. Most affected are those who bought Florida Prepaid plans between October 2007 and January 2010 when Prepaid sold a ?tuition differential? supplemental plan to reflect the extra tuition universities were authorized to charge. It was sold as an optional add-on plan, but students attending the state?s public universities will have to pay it.

?No one ever made the statement in any of the brochures that this was an absolute requirement to gain admission,? said Stanley Tate of Miami, a founder of the Florida Prepaid Plan who is no longer involved in daily operations. ?Whatever the charge is, they?ll have to pay it unless they?re covered.?

If you want to supplement your plan to ensure your child is fully covered, or buy a new plan, you have until Jan. 31 to lock in this year?s prices. You can get more information at www.myfloridaprepaid.com.

Anyone who has bought a university plan since October 2010 is covered for full tuition and most required fees at public universities. If you bought a plan before February 2007, you?re exempt from paying tuition differential, but still have to pay local fees, unless you have a supplemental fee plan.

The Legislature first authorized the universities to charge extra tuition in 2007. At that time, it was limited to the University of Florida, Florida State University and the University of South Florida. But the state later expanded it to all public universities and also authorized the schools to increase tuition by 15 percent a year. That had a major impact on Florida Prepaid, which had previously based its plan prices on the assumption that tuition would increase 5 to 6 percent a year.

Olga Cano of Coral Gables bought tuition plans for two of her young relatives in January 2008. Cano, who is a certified public accountant, said she found the pricing structure confusing. She chose not to buy a tuition differential plan, because she didn?t realize it would be needed. She assumed the children would attend nearby Florida International University, which didn?t charge extra tuition at the time.

?I thought it was a minor fee,? Cano said. ?The salesperson told me it was something at only a couple of universities, and it may go away.?

But the legislative changes in 2009 turned the minor fee into a major one, and the cost of a differential plan more than tripled in one year.

Cano could have bought a differential tuition plan in 2008 for about $4,600 per child. If she wants to add the plan today, it will cost her more than $21,000 per child. She?s written letters to legislators asking her to let her buy the supplemental plan at the old rate.

?When I bought this, I thought I had locked in tuition,? she said. ?The costs have gone through the roof, and I think the whole credibility of the Prepaid plan has been damaged.?

Source: http://www.bradenton.com/2012/01/02/3758927/florida-prepaid-plan-are-you-covered.html

dan marino david lee roth joe bodolai ben nelson extreme couponing taylor lautner act