Florida prepaid prices drop to lowest in 10 years, families could get refund

TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Prepaid College Board announced significant price reductions on Monday, along with opportunities for refunds for many who are enrolled. 

The new pricing is the result of consecutive years with lower-than-expected tuition fees, according to their spokesperson. 

"It’s not out of the realm of commonsense to say tuition will probably go up, at least with inflation. Well, in Florida we are really fortunate because our state universities and colleges have kept their tuition stable for many years," said Shannon Smith with Florida Prepaid. "We never want to collect more from families than what we need to cover it, so it’s a way to give it back to families. We recalculate and just depending on when they bought the plan will determine if they get the refund."

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In the Tampa Bay area, more than 52,000 student plans will see cost reductions, and 25,000 will get refunds. Those refunds will average about $2,600, according to the board, saving parents a total of $1.3 billion in the state. 

This will impact families who purchased a plan after 2008, and only if their child isn’t already using the benefits, meaning they are already enrolled in higher education institutions. 

FOX 13 spoke with a family who benefited from the rate decreases: 

"We got the exciting news that we were the recipient of some refunds from Florida pre-paid," Abby Davis said. "It was definitely surprising because you hear about the soaring prices of everything, and you assume higher education is looped in on that, but it’s great knowing how secure of an investment it is."

The Florida Prepaid Board said watch your email this week or log in to your dashboard to see new pricing and refund eligibility. Parents can get the refund back in full or give it to another child who needs a plan.