Stanley Tate's legacy seen in over 1.2 million Florida Prepaid families saving for college

The state of Florida lost a true visionary, entrepreneur and philanthropist with the recent passing of Stanley G. Tate. If the success of a person’s life is measured in part by the impact they have on others, we can celebrate the fact that Tate’s legacy lives on in the more than 1.2 million families who have been able to save affordably for postsecondary education or pursue higher education.

This is thanks to his founding of the Florida Prepaid College Plan and the Florida Prepaid College Foundation.

The Florida Prepaid College Plan was designed and funded by Tate in 1987, with $600,000 of his own money, to help make higher education affordable for Florida families. He understood on a personal level what it was like to struggle financially, having grown up “lower income” (his own words) in a one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment with his parents and two siblings.

Later he worked his way through college at the University of Florida.

More than three decades later, we can see that his vision was more than just to create a college savings plan. A father of three who made Miami home, Tate wanted to create a culture of hope and excellence for Florida families by putting postsecondary education within financial reach through affordable monthly payments toward future college tuition.

With the creation of the nonprofit arm of Florida Prepaid, the Florida Prepaid College Foundation, he also forged a path for businesses and other donors to provide college scholarships to deserving students whose families cannot afford to save.

In 2002, under Tate’s leadership, the board created the Florida 529 Savings Plan to provide families another way to save for college tuition, fees, housing and other college expenses.

A multimillionaire builder, Tate truly never stopped working to help as many Florida families as possible find a path to college. He often called Florida Prepaid “the biggest single success I ever had.” The numbers confirm this legacy.

Since 1988, Florida Prepaid has helped about 1.26 million families prepare financially for postsecondary education. The program is the largest and longest-running of its kind in the nation, and the 529 Savings Plan has been awarded a medal by Morningstar for three years running.

More than 626,000 students have attended college using Prepaid Plans. In addition, there are over 158,000 active Florida 529 Savings Plan accounts with about $1.4 billion in assets under management.

But to know Tate is to know that he would look at these numbers and insist there is more work to do. He wanted every able family in Florida to save something for college and to provide more scholarships to deserving students in need.

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The best thing we can do as the Florida Prepaid College Board to honor Tate’s college savings legacy is to keep our eyes focused on the mission of helping as many Florida families as possible save affordably for postsecondary education. The best thing businesses can do is to explore the 1:1 match available through the Florida Prepaid College Foundation.

The match doubles the impact of their scholarship gifts and helps more deserving students.

And if you’re a Florida family not yet saving for college, the best thing you can do to thank Tate for his efforts is to get started. Nothing would make him happier.

John Rood is chairman of the Florida Prepaid College Board. He lives in Jacksonville.

This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Helping others save for college was mission of Florida Prepaid founder