If you want your kids to go to college someday, even if that someday is years away, you need to start planning now for the financial hit. Because mama, you are about to be tackled. 

Right now, Florida’s tuition is cheap, cheap, cheap compared to the rates at public universities in other states. The Sunshine State’s average tuition rate is still nearly half of what students pay nationwide for attending a four-year public university. Annual tuition at Florida's public schools range from $3,700 to $3,900, while the national average is $6,585, reported Laura Figueroa in a recent Miami Herald story.

But that will likely change.

Tuition typically goes up about 6 percent a year. This year, the state's public universities were given permission to increase tuition fees by up to 15 percent a year to help make up for state and federal funding cuts.

Florida International University and the University of Florida have already hiked their fees. Others will likely follow suit.

So what can you do about that now, especially if Junior is still in diapers?

There are two tax-advantaged ways for you to save up for college. One is a prepaid plan, which allows you to lock in today’s tuition prices for a child, no matter when they are slated to begin college. The other, called a 529 savings plan, allows you to set up a college savings plan that grows tax free.

Let’s talk about the prepaid plan first.

From now through Jan. 31, parents who enroll in the state-sponsored Florida Prepaid Tuition Plan will lock in the 2009-2010 tuition rate for Florida's state universities and community colleges.

Since 1988, the program has sold more than 1.4 million prepaid tuition plans in Florida, which allows you to pay in a lump sum or through monthly installments. About one in 10 kids living in Florida are covered by the plan, which parents can buy as soon as their child is born or by the time their child reaches their junior year of high school.

If the student attends a private or out-of-state school, the money is returned to the parent or can be transferred to the school of choice. A student who wins a scholarship can use money out of the prepaid plan to pay for other school expenses, such as textbooks or dorm fees.

As tuition goes up, the prepaid tuition program is expected to increase its prices to keep up. Check out www.MyFloridaPrepaid.com for more info.

Here's another option: the 529 college savings program, which is offered in every state, as well as by various companies. You can buy a plan from a state other than the one in which you live, and you can choose how your money is invested. These plans typically invest your contributions in different types of investments, everything from certificates of deposit to stocks. For more info on these, check out www.savingforcollege.com, which compares plans from state to state.