Maryland uses a weighted average calculation or minimum benefit and in this case, the WAT was less than the money we paid them 6 years ago. When we asked them for the tuition reimbursement for the Fall semester of 2020, they gave us the exact same amount of $ we gave them 6 years prior and told us this was the minimum benefit and they could not give us any gains b/c our funds were pooled and others received the gains. Essentially we have learned that those who use the funds for out of state schools subsidize those who go in state. We were told specifically by the prepaid program director in an email, “this is not your money.”

Happy to share more and/or write an article so that others don’t fall victim.

Please share the story, as all prepaid plans (including Maryland) have some way to transfer the credits to out-of-state schools. Yes, the value may not be the same, but you don’t lose you money or get $0.