College Illinois Program to Resume Oct. 1

The state's College Illinois prepaid tuition program will soon be back in business.

Spokesman John Samuels tells Crain's Chicago Business (http://bit.ly/NDshth) that the Illinois Student Assistance Commission voted last week to reopen College Illinois on Oct. 1. 

Samuels on Monday said the agency tentatively plans an $800,000 ad campaign to promote the program.

College Illinois let parents buy contracts to lock in tuition costs at public universities years before students go to college. The commission stopped selling contracts last fall after a study found the fund had a 30 percent shortfall and management problems came to light.

Samuels acknowledges that the investment fund remains underfunded. But he says the commission's leadership has been overhauled and is working to make sure its operations are more transparent.