Alabama Legislators Consider Tuition Plan Study

Marc Reynolds, deputy director of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, said Gov. Bob Riley recommended the study in a meeting last week with state officials.

"We agreed that's going to be the appropriate way to go," Reynolds said Monday. He estimated the study could be done in two to four weeks.

Currently, the Retirement Systems of Alabama has nothing to do with the prepaid tuition program. It is overseen by a board headed by Ivey. But Bedford said getting the pension fund involved would add credibility to the study's results.

Bedford had sponsored a bill that would turn over the tuition program's management to the Retirement Systems, but it died without coming to a vote in the Senate.

The same thing happened to a plan offered by two Republicans, Sen. Scott Beason of Gardendale and Rep. Robert Bentley of Tuscaloosa. It would have required out-of-state college students to pay higher tuition to help Alabama's plan.

The House passed a proposed constitutional amendment by Rep. Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, that would borrow money from a state savings account to shore up the tuition program. The bill is awaiting consideration in the Senate.