The price of a college education in Florida is going down – if people plan or planned ahead.
At a news conference Jan. 13 at Florida State College at Jacksonville, Gov. Ron DeSantis and John Rood, chair of the Florida Prepaid College Board and chairman of the Vestcor Companies Inc., announced a $1.3 billion reduction in rates related to the state's prepaid tuition program.
DeSantis said that in the past 15 years, the price of a college education has led to “crippling debt,” about $1.5 trillion in the U.S., that adversely affects graduates long into their careers.
“In our state university system, we are holding the line on tuition” and “we want to make access to higher education affordable and attainable,” DeSantis said.
The price reductions, which apply to plans purchased since 2008, will affect 224,000 customers that will receive $500 million in refunds, an average of $4,700.
The refund may be invested in a savings plan to cover the future cost of books supplies and housing.
Rood said the rates, effective immediately, are the lowest in five years, starting at $44 a month to enroll a newborn in the prepaid college plan.
“We want to empower Florida families by making college saving easy and affordable,” Rood said.
In addition, open enrollment in the prepaid plans will begin Feb. 1 and the application fee will be waived in February, Rood said.
Florida Prepaid is the largest prepaid college plan in the U.S., with nearly 2 million plans purchased and more than $14 billion in assets.
Read more about the reduction here