Seattle Schools Community Forum

Remember how Senator Rodney Tom was telling everyone who would listen what a bad idea it was for the state to continue the GET program (buying prepaid units of college tuition)?   He said, "We don't need to be in that business."   And the Legislature was thinking of getting rid of it despite its popularity? As Goldy at The Stranger Slog says, So had we shut down GET last session, we would have shut it down for absolutely nothing. The Times is reporting that it's back on " good financial footing."  It was given an "A" rating for soundness from the state actuary and the committee that oversees GET.   The actuary says that "if all assumptions are realized and the program remains open " then GET will be fully funded by 2018." The reasoning for this change is that the Legislature voted to freeze tuition at our state's colleges and universities and an improving stock market.  This makes sense because GET is not a low-cost way...

Some interesting legal rulings have come across my desk. One is from Ed Week that 529 Plan Savings can be used to pay for college courses taken in high school.  As long as students are getting college-level credit and are enrolled as students at a college, there is no age requirement about when families can start using savings from their 529 plans, according to Joseph Hurley, founder of Savingforcollege.com in Pittsfield, N.Y.  "This is an expanding area as parents look for ways to deal with higher college costs," says Hurley. Dual- or concurrent-enrollment courses are now offered in nearly 48 states (with Maryland and Vermont recently coming on board), and the majority have students pay a portion of the tuition, says Adam Lowe, executive director of the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships in Chapel Hill, N.C. Using 529 plan money for dual enrollment can be helpful, as federal financial aid, including Pell Grants and Stafford loans,...