Using Virginia Prepaid for out of state school

[Anonymous]

We have 3 years of Virginia Prepaid for our 3 DCs (1 year each). We were hoping that at least one of them would attend a VA school, but no such luck (at least for undergrad)! Can someone explain in plain language how payouts work. It sounds like the value of each semester is transferred to an Invest529 account and then we direct payments. I assume they mean the Virginia 529 investment plan. It looks like once the money is transferred, we can change the investments. I assume this is a regular Virginia 529, which can be used until 30 years after high school, and that the 10 year after high school restriction is removed. One DC is on trimesters and we would like to use for spring. Anyone know if they will disburse in months other than July and November or are we just out of luck for this year. Appreciate advice from those who have used it. And yes, in retrospect, obviously not a good investment for us. Just figuring out where to go from here. Thanks!