SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois Student Assistance Commission is offering savings on prepaid tuition contracts now through Monday.

Purchasers can save more than $500 on eight semesters of prepaid tuition in the program's University Plus option versus the same plan purchased Dec. 1.

The state's prepaid tuition program allows parents of college-bound students to lock in a tuition rate ahead of time and pay toward that tuition into a low-risk investment fund.

Commission Executive Director Andrew Davis says families gathering for the holidays should consider purchasing the gift of college education for a child.

Under the program, students can choose to attend college almost anywhere. Benefits can be used at Illinois public universities and community colleges or applied at public and private institutions nationwide.