Chairman’s Message

February 2012

For the past 23 years, the Florida Prepaid College Board has offered Florida families a secure and tax-free method to financially prepare for their children’s future higher education.

Saving in the current economy is difficult for many Florida families as the nation continues through one of the most challenging economic cycles in history.  For the first time, student loan debt exceeds credit card debt in America and the financial burden facing college graduates and future college students and their families continues to grow.

Florida families have recognized the importance of saving for their child’s future college education with nearly one out of ten Florida children from newborns to high school students having a Prepaid College Plan. It is through this personal commitment that the Florida Prepaid College Plan has grown to become the longest continuous running prepaid plan in the nation. Key program accomplishments since the Plan’s inception in 1988 include:

• Families have purchased more than 1.5 million Florida Prepaid College Plans for more than 970,000 children.

• More than 297,000 students have gone to college using their Florida Prepaid College Plan benefits

• $1.8 billion in Florida Prepaid College Plan payments have been made to Florida’s state universities and Florida Colleges over the past 23 years.

• More than 32,350 active Florida College Investment Plan accounts with a market value of over $239 million under management.

For the 2010-2011 enrollment period, four new Prepaid Plan options were offered, giving families a more comprehensive means to save for tuition and most mandatory fees. A new option, the 4-Year Florida College Plan was offered to meet the growth of the Florida College System as more of Florida’s college students will be able to obtain workforce related bachelor’s degrees at one of these institutions.

The Prepaid College Trust Fund continues to remain financially strong.  The audited financial statements reflect that the Trust Fund has $10.5 billion in assets and liabilities of $9.9 billion as of June 30, 2011.

Now is the time for families to start preparing and saving early for their child’s higher education and we look forward to continuing our mission of helping Floridians save for future qualified higher education expenses by providing a cost effective, financially sound Prepaid College Plan and other college savings programs.

Sincerely,

Duane Ottenstroer

Chairman, Florida Prepaid College Board