PHOENIX€State representatives passed a bill last week that would allow parents to pay for their children's college education in advance by making monthly payments to a tuition prepayment fund.

House Bill 2270 passed the full House 59-1 Thursday and it now awaits committee assignment in the Senate. A floor amendment was added by Rep. Robert Burns, R-Glendale, which stipulated that Arizona's private colleges must also be included in the prepayment tuition program.

If the bill passes the Senate, parents will be able to sign a five- to 18-year contract that, once matured, will cover the cost of sending a child to either a four-year public or private university, a two-year community college, or a combination of the two.

Paul Allvin, executive director of the Arizona Students' Association, which initiated the bill, said he has talked with Bank of America and Arizona MultiBank Community Development Corp. about providing the $250,000 in start-up fees for the program. He said a bank would initially loan the program the money, and after a few years of operation the fund would be self-supporting.

Allvin said the bank that receives the state's contract would receive a tremendous amount of secondary business from administering the tuition contracts.