PACT contracts must include specified terms, the PACT board must pay benefits when a beneficiary attends an out-of-state school and shows admission, and certain contract amounts become unclaimed after 10 years if the contract is still unused.
(a) Each PACT contract shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following terms: (1) The amount and the number of contract payments required from a purchaser on behalf of a designated beneficiary. (2) The terms and conditions under which purchasers shall remit contract payments, including, but not limited to, the date or dates upon which each contract payment shall be due. (3) Provisions for late payment charges and for default. (4) Provisions for withdrawal from the PACT Program, including refunds and any penalty therefor. (5) The name and date of birth of the designated beneficiary on whose behalf a contract is drawn. (6) Terms and conditions under which another person may be subsequently substituted for the designated beneficiary originally named. (7) The name of the person entitled to terminate the PACT contract, the terms and conditions under which a PACT contract may be terminated, and the name of the person entitled to any refund due as a result of termination of a PACT contract. (8) The period of time during which the designated beneficiary must claim benefits through the PACT Program. (9) The number of credit hours contracted for by the purchaser. (10) All other rights and obligations of the purchaser and the PACT Program. (11) Such other terms, conditions, and provisions as the board considers in its sole discretion to be necessary or appropriate. (b) In the event a designated beneficiary is accepted by and elects to attend a college or university outside the State of Alabama, the PACT board shall, upon receipt of evidence of admission to said college or university, remit contract benefits pursuant to the terms of the PACT contract. (c) A PACT contract shall also specifically provide that, if after ten years following the designated beneficiary’s college entrance date or the actual entrance date of a designated beneficiary who is an accelerated student, neither the PACT contract has been terminated nor the designated beneficiary’s rights under the contract exercised, the PACT board, after making reasonable effort to locate the purchaser, shall presume the contract purchase amount unclaimed and abandoned property, and thereafter administered in accordance with the Alabama Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act, Article 2 of Chapter 12 of Title 35. (d) Nothing in this chapter, nor in a PACT contract entered into pursuant to this chapter, shall be construed as a promise or guarantee by the PACT board or the state that: A person shall be admitted to a particular college or university; or that a person shall be allowed to continue to attend a college or university after having been admitted; or that a person shall be graduated from a college or university; or that Alabama resident status shall be conferred. Each state college or university shall establish its own residency requirements for matriculation. (e) The state or any state agency, or any county, or municipality, or any other employer in the state is hereby authorized, by contract, or otherwise, to agree with any employee to remit contract payments through payroll deduction made by the appropriate official of the state, state agency, political subdivision, or other employer under the terms of an accepted PACT contract.