Parents looking to send their children to MSU can do so using today's prices by purchasing a Michigan Education Trust contract.
Parents can secure a year of college by purchasing a contract for $7,028 said Terry Stanton, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Treasury. An entire four years would run more than $28,000.
Enrollment for this session started Sept. 1 and will run until June 15. The education trust allows individuals to sign a contract and make a payment for as little as a semester of college or as much as four years at current tuition prices.
The program, which started in 1988, has issued more than 74,000 contracts and is used by roughly 15,650 students, Stanton said.
And 3,359 of those students go to MSU, said Laurie Schlenke, manager of student accounts in the Controller's Office.
Last fall, MSU received $8,174,658 in payments from the education trust.
Schlenke said the education trust can be a good way for people to start to pay for college.
"It's an option for some families and it works well for some families because they have the guarantee that their child's tuition will be paid for," Schlenke said.
The cost of a year's college tuition now is up 3.8 percent from the last enrollment period because of factors including higher costs of tuition, Stanton said.
"It's really reflective of the tuition increases that are out there," he said. "The MET board thought it was a reasonable price."
New to the program this year is that parents can now buy a contract for students in high school, although because of a graduated pricing structure, contracts for high school students are more expensive than contracts for younger students.
Students whose parents purchased a contract say they also like knowing their college is paid for.
"My parents set it all up for me and I think it's a good thing," studio art senior Katie Gillett said.
If students have contracts they need to contact the education trust office and let them know they plan on going to MSU, Schlenke said.
The education office then sends MSU an official list of all the people using them, she said.
