In response to protest over double-digit college tuition increases, several states have slowed tuition growth. However, this trend threatens the value of prepaid tuition plans for investors. The financial return on prepaid tuition is largely tied to tuition rates, and the programs have been marketed as a hedge against rising tuition. Program…

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will not ask the Supreme Court to review a lower court's decision to exempt the Michigan Education Trust from federal income taxes. The state college tuition prepayment plan was discontinued in 1991 due to legal challenges but promised to honor its commitments to 55,000 participants. The program may now be…

The Massachusetts college tuition prepayment program has been praised by many as helping families pay for college, but a few elite institutions have not joined, saying the program does not fit their financial aid policies and philosophies. Supporters feel the program could be even stronger if they joined. The plan differs from most state plans by…

A Massachusetts plan involving 67 colleges allows parents to invest in state bonds and redeem them later, at original value plus 2% above inflation rate, for a guaranteed percentage of tuition. Plan improves on strategies tested by other states. Supporters foresee more college applicants and less need for student aid. (MSE)

Virginia will pilot a program to send some community college graduates to several rural private colleges in an effort to improve educational access and help meet the anticipated growth in enrollments in the next decade. Some feel the state should expand existing public institutions instead. (MSE)