Do I have to renew my contract?

I'm a Verizon customer and I saw that the iPhone 5 was coming out. My contract with Verizon is not up until this coming spring or summer and I really need smartphone for school as I'm in college. Verizon is charging an arm and a leg for iPhones, but Apple is asking $299+ for the one I want. My question is, is this price of $299 one that requires me to get a new contract with Verizon? Or is it the price of the phone apart from shipping?

Thats the contract price

you would need to either cancel your current contract, and pay an early termination fee, or you would need to pay FULL price for the phone.