State Tuition Fund 'College Illinois' $300M in Debt; Parents Could Lose Money - KMSP-TV

State Tuition Fund 'College Illinois' $300M in Debt; Parents Could Lose Money

Parents who invested in one of Illinois' prepaid college programs may be out of luck when they go to pay tuition.

An April state report showed College Illinois was operating $300 million in the red.

The fine print of the program reveals the funds are not guaranteed, but a spokesperson for the state attorney general said Lisa Madigan was looking into the matter.

The fund is managed by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission.

Thousands of other parents who put money into college savings accounts through a different program last week are also getting some bad news: They're not getting a matching donation they had expected.

Participants in the Bright Start savings program were told that deposits of up to $250 would be matched dollar for dollar.

The offer was limited to the first 2,500 people, but the Bright Start website didn't display up-to-date information and showed the matching money was still available even after all 2,500 slots had been filled.

Thousands of people contributed after the limit was reached and won't be getting the extra money.

A spokeswoman for Treasurer Dan Rutherford said they were not sure how many people were affected and the office was working with Oppenheimer Funds to figure out what went wrong.