Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are working together on a solution that would ensure that all of the 45,000 Prepaid Affordable College Tuition contracts that have been left in limbo by a down economy are honored.

But what could be the prevailing plan -- a version that would cap tuition for PACT students -- could put the squeeze on the state's public colleges and universities.

Members of the House and Senate who have introduced bills addressing the PACT funding problem met with representatives of the University of Alabama, Auburn University, the Alabama Education Association, the Partnership for Higher Education and a member of the board that oversees the PACT program last week.

State representatives Greg Wren, R-Montgomery, and Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, called the meeting to corral all of the plans that have been introduced this session with hopes of finding a workable solution to cure the program's shortfall. Contract holders were notified almost a year ago this month that the program, which was designed to allow families to pre-pay future college costs at today's prices, had lost nearly half of its assets and was in danger of not meeting its obligations for future payments.