Many people who have kids on the brink of college these days have suffered some kind of setback in their college fund.

For parents in that boat, Certified Financial Planner Lynn Mayabb, senior managing partner at BKD Wealth Advisors in Kansas City, Mo., recommends that they keep the money invested for a couple more years.

"If possible, avoid taking out money in the first year or two and let that account have some time to grow," she says. "For most people, it is a supplement to other money that they're going to be using, so they're not taking out the full amount every year."

PLUS loans and scholarships may be alternatives to withdrawing money from a college fund right away.

In the meantime, should parents hang on to stocks, or will this prove counterproductive?

Some advisers say it's a mistake to lock in losses by selling after stocks have retreated, but others advise caution. "We feel like this recovery is going to be slow," says Lyn Dippel, vice president at Financial Advantage in Columbia, Md.

Dippel says many people have told her they want to keep everything in stocks to avoid missing a rebound.

"Every indication says that this is going to be more like an L(-shaped recovery). The next three or four years are not going to be very exciting, so you want to stick with very conservative investment-grade bond funds or, if you have any stock in there at all, it would be kind of a traditional, value-type stock," she says.

Unfortunately there's no quick cure for a depressed portfolio except time.

For more information about college investing, see Bankrate's Financial Literacy series on College funding.