With a baby on the way, I was looking into state college savings plans. It seems Mississippi has a plan that will effectively fix the cost of college at a 4-year public school. The price is based upon how old the child is when you start (and the average cost of tuition.) If we were to somehow start saving now, by putting in $200/month for the first 10 years of the child's life, we would have put in $24,000. The state of Mississippi would then guarantee that when our child was 18, they would get 4 years at a state university for free (regardless of how much the price has increased between now and 2027. Should our child not go to college, the money (without interest) will be returned. Should our child want to go to a private or out of state college (UofM, perhaps?), we would be refunded the average cost of tuition at Mississippi's public 4-year schools.

Sounds like a great plan, but too bad we can't put $200 a month into it...