States Rethink Popular Aid Plans

Prepaid-tuition programs and merit scholarships are straining finances

Parents and students struggling to pay for college have certainly felt the sting of sharp tuition increases in recent years. Now the programs they turn to for help -- merit scholarships and prepaid-tuition plans -- may themselves fall victim to tuition increases.

Both programs sprang up in a succession of states in the mid to late 1990s, appealing to middle-class families who sought relief from

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