FLORIDA - Open enrollment for Florida's Prepaid College Plan began today.

It allows parents to lock prices of tuition at the current rate....

Channel Three Capitol Reporter Whitney Ray has more.

Jenn Meale was thinking about her daughter's college education long before she gave birth.

Jenn Meale / Mother: "We tried to sign her up before she was even born and they told us we had to at least have a social security card. So once we got that social security card we signed her up right away."

Jenn invests about a hundred dollars a month in the Florida's Prepaid College Plan. The plan allows parents to lock in the price of tuition.

Whitney Ray / Reporter: "Parents who bought into the plan 18 years ago will save 8,000 dollars by the time their kids graduate."

In June, the fund was worth 700 million dollars, then, last month, the stock market took a huge plunge. State investors say the recent woes on Wall Street haven't had much of an impact on the fund.

Kimberly Sermons / Florida Prepaid Fund: "Our investment strategy is very conservative; we only invest in fixed income securities, so again no significant losses. We're safe."

Plus money paid into the plan is guaranteed by the state. Jenn says the state's promise has helped her rest easier.

Jenn Meale / Mother: "We are concerned about the economic down turn, but we're not hanging on every Dow Jones report, stocks going up and down. We feel like it's a good investment. We'll ride it out and see how she does when she turns 18."

Jenn hopes the fund will allow her daughter to choose a college based on what it can offer academically not on affordability.Open Enrollment For Florida Prepaid Tuition Plan