Today's children are tomorrow's future. I believe that more of Texas's youth should have the opportunity to seek a college degree on the way to pursuing their dreams.

During my first year in office, we disbursed approximately $100 million to 922 universities and colleges to provide educational opportunities through the Texas Tomorrow Fund. Further, with our support, lawmakers recently laid the groundwork for a new prepaid college tuition plan, the Texas Tomorrow Fund II. The Comptroller’s office is now in the process of designing this exciting new program to help Texans manage the rising costs of college tuition. It will be available to the public in September 2008.

We also have a new Texas College Savings Plan (TCSP), a tax-free investment program that Texans can use to save for college expenses like tuition and room and board.

These plans are designed to be affordable and accessible to Texas families, as well as to help young Texans be better prepared to compete in the global economy.