Aden and Debra Wilkie never expected they’d have to pay their daughters’ tuition with a credit card. The couple has more than $80,000 invested in three separate tuition savings plans with the state of Maryland. But they can’t withdraw a dime.
For months, hundreds of families invested in Maryland’s 529 prepaid plans have been unable to access all of the money in their accounts to pay tuition and fees. Administrators say this spring they discovered a calculating error that may have affected all 31,000 prepaid accounts. So the Maryland Prepaid College Trust suspended interest payments. While many parents have been able to access the principal in their accounts, others say their money has been completely frozen.
“It’s a broken promise,” Aden Wilkie said.
The account holders, mostly parents, say the trust has never been clear on why this happened. It offered no timeline to resolve the problem, even though students now face bills for the spring semester. When will everyone have full access to their money? Can the state guarantee they will all be made whole?
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