[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Pages 26087-26088]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               FLORIDA'S PREPAID COLLEGE TUITION PROGRAM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to encourage all Florida 
residents to consider enrollment in Florida's Prepaid College Tuition 
Program.
  I am a strong advocate of having parents and students get an early 
start on saving for college. As a mother and as a grandmother, as well 
as a former educator, I know the struggles working parents face when 
their children apply to college. Even in the best of times, parents and 
young adults can have trouble paying for tuition.
  As a coauthor of the Florida prepaid plan, when I was a member of the 
Florida legislature, I knew that we could help make paying for college 
education easier on all of Florida's families. We created the Florida 
prepaid plan so that parents could lock in their children's tuition 
costs early and could ensure that they would be able to receive quality 
educations when their time came.
  This plan has been extremely successful. Even as similar plans across 
the country are struggling, Florida's prepaid plan has a solid future. 
More than 206,000 students have attended college in Florida with the 
assistance of our State's Florida Prepaid College Tuition Program. With 
college tuition rising at about 6 percent each year, there is no reason 
not to take part in this program. There is flexibility in this program 
to allow parents to find the right plans and the right payment 
schedules which best fit a family's needs.
  In addition to locked-in tuition rates, Florida's Prepaid College 
Tuition Program offers a tax-free investment fund--an account where 
money can be saved for tuition and additional college expenses. This 
program is truly helping families afford college for their children. 
Tuition plans vary depending on a child's age and a plan's options, but 
in most cases, the savings for a family can be incredible.
  Prepaid plans can be bought by non-Florida residents, but the child 
for whom the plan is purchased must be a resident younger than 18 and 
not yet in the 12th grade. If the child decides not to go to college, 
the money is refunded or it can be transferred to a brother or to a 
sister. Also, that plan is good even if the child and the parents move 
out of State. Many States apply and accept Florida's prepaid plan.
  The future of America lies in the hands of the next generation, and 
our children must be provided with the intellectual opportunities that 
they need to succeed. As a Nation and as a community, we must work 
together to improve the educational opportunities for all of our 
children. With the help of programs such as Florida's Prepaid College 
Tuition Program, we certainly have a valuable tool toward accomplishing 
this noble goal.
  For anyone signing up before January 31, tuition rates will be locked 
in at the 2009-2010 tuition rates. Florida's public universities, Mr. 
Speaker, have been given the authorization to raise tuition up to 15 
percent for next year. So, with these possible increases looming, there 
is no better time than now to make sure that our sons and daughters are 
afforded the education they rightfully deserve.

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