[dmccauley]

I am curious to see if there were any catches to this program that you were not aware of once your child was eligible to attend college? Did anyone move out of State and use the interstate colleges available and was it an easy transition?

[tamcim72]

i haven't had to use mine yet, but i have for both kids (7 and 9 yrs) bought (paid in full) back when they were babies. I got each the 4yr + local fee plan. From what I can tell the purchase price has increased about $1000 each since i've purchased. To purchase today would cost me almost 2x what i paid.

I had a lot of friends and family give me their 2 cents about how i could put the money in the stock market and do better etc. If I had put that money in the stock market back in '99 and '01, I don't believe I would have made any gains. I did it for the piece of mind knowing that it is paid and done, and it's the ONLY investment i have that i can say that about.

I've known people to cancel and get their money back easily so I would assume to get the money out for a out of state college would also be. My understanding is that they give the average state tuition rate and that can be applied to other schools. Granted Florida has one on the lowest tuition rates in the country I don't know how far that would go.

[th3vault]

Between prepaid and Bright Futures, I know of many students at FL universities that not only have all tuition paid for, but the surplus also covers housing, books and other expenses.

In some instances, refund checks have actually been paying students to go to school!

[RMD3819]

I bought this for my daughter when she was 5. Four years dorm, four years tuition, plus the fees. She is now using it to go through college. I was on the monthly plan and your payments end just after high school graduation. I paid about $14,000 total.

Worth every penny!

There are no catches. Everything is explained in the program. It does cover out of state or private colleges as explained above. You will get the best value if they attend a state school in Florida. It does not cover every single fee nor books or living expenses.

It is simple to use. Your kid shows their card at the cashier's office and they bill the program.

You can always get your money back.

[dmccauley]

Thanks for the input. I want to buy it for my kids but was hesitant because we are planning on moving and I am not sure how they will feel about going to college here in the future.

[RMD3819]

I told my kid if you want to go to a school other than a Fl state college you will pay the difference.

She is at a state school.

[ready2move]

DO IT! It's like a forced savings account. We didn't do it because when it opened in 1988 the year my son was born, there were many gray areas in it. We invested elsewhere and got burned.

His bright futures covers 75% of tuition which is still a great deal, but the overage would have covered the difference, and then some..

[Guntersville Boomer]

I was one of the 1st 1,000 to enroll my daughter in it when it was created over 20 years ago. When my daughter graduated from high school she was offered a partial scholarship to a private college out of state. Florida Prepaid Tuition Plan ended up paying that college the same amount they would have paid one of the public universities in Florida, there were no problems at all. I think it is an outstanding plan.

[tilli]

My dad enrolled me in this when I was young, I attended a state school on the program. It covered all tuition but there were some fees that were not covered, about $250ish a semester at that time, plus I still had to buy books. I graduated college in '98 though, so I don't know what has changed since then. Even though it did not cover ever single bit of the cost of attending school it was still worth it just for locking in the price of tuition and graduating without a huge student loan debt hanging over my head. I would certainly enroll my children in it if I had any, but try to save some on the side for other expenses too, unless you want them to work to cover what the program doesn't.

[crystalblue]

Because of its success, future of Bright Futures may be dimmed - St. Petersburg Times

bright futures may be going away...