<p>Daughter is currently a Soph in high school but want to garner as much information as possible and start this process early. We have a Florida pre-paid 4 year university plan, the local fees plan and a 2 year dormitory plan. Chances are good daughter will also be eligible for Bright Futures as she already made the cut off scores for SAT CR and CM and is well on the way to community hours. Question: How does one "declare" the fact that the family has a Florida pre paid program? If she chooses to NOT attend a public Florida school, I know we can use that money toward tuition at any approved private or out of state school at the prevailing rate, correct? Does it count as income? Savings? Anyone been through this scenario before?</p>
<p>When you are filling out financial aid forms, call the prepaid people and ask what the value is. You put that as an asset of the parent. To use the money at a private school or to get a refund if your daughter attends a FL school and gets Bright Futures, just fill out the appropriate form and send to them: </p>
<p>My understanding is that getting a refund is the wrong way to go as you get much more value using it at the current Florida rate. True, it will be quite a bit less than a private tuition but at least it will be at the prevailing rate rather than at the rate we paid when we started the plan back in 2003.</p>
<p>Saismom, whether you get a refund or not depends on the situation. If the student is enrolled at a private school and the parent pays, the parent would ask for reimbursement; that is paid at the prevailing Florida rate. (The parent may also ask for the school to be paid directly-- which would be done at the prevailing rate-- but some people would prefer not having the school involved.) If the student gets Bright Futures, however, the parent may have to apply for a refund for any amount not going directly to tuition. (In other words, if tuition is $4K and Bright Futures is paying $3K, they won’t allow you to get the other $1K at a ‘stepped up’ Florida rate; you must take it as a refund and lose the growth.) The only other alternative I know of is to transfer the amount to a sibling or just not cash it in, in case the beneficiary wants to use it later. I don’t think they’ll let you use the prepaid tuition at the current rate to pay for another expense, say room and board. </p>
<p>“If your child earns a scholarship, such as Florida Bright Futures, you still can use the full value of the Florida Prepaid College Plan. The combination of the scholarship and the Prepaid Plan may cover more fully the student’s college expenses. Your alternatives are to request a scholarship refund or to transfer the Prepaid Plan to another family member.”</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification! I had heard the Bright Futures can be used for books if the student has Florida Pre paid for tuition. I wonder about the meal plans. Can the $ be saved from the Pre-paid and be used towards a Masters?</p>
<p>I hadn’t heard that about books and I couldn’t find it on their webpage. It’s worth asking them though. The Florida prepaid plan can’t be used for Master’s but I know some other states have prepaid plans that can be used for Master’s. </p>
<p>By the way, as far as scholarships, this also depends on the scholarship. If you can argue that the scholarship can be used applied to room/ board, then the prepaid will be pay out for tuition. </p>
<p>It’s worth calling them up when you are facing a specific situation because they are helpful and these things change.</p>