A. The Legislature finds and declares the following:

1. It is an essential function of state government to forever encourage schools and the means of education;

2. It is a responsibility of state government to maintain state institutions of higher education;

3. It is an essential function of state government to encourage attendance at state institutions of higher education;

4. Tuition costs at public institutions of higher education are difficult for many to afford and are difficult to predict in order to enable individuals and families to plan;

5. It is in the best interest of the people of this state to foster public higher education in order to provide well-educated citizens;

6. It is in the best interest of the people of this state to encourage state residents desiring higher education to enroll in state institutions of higher learning;

7. Students in elementary and secondary schools tend to achieve a higher standard of performance when the payment of tuition for their higher education is secured; and

8. Providing assistance to assure the higher education of the citizens of this state is necessary and desirable for the public health, safety and welfare.

B. It is therefore the intention of the Legislature that the purposes of the Oklahoma Tuition Trust Act and of the Oklahoma Tuition Trust Fund created by the Oklahoma Tuition Trust Act shall be to:

1. encourage education and the means of education;

2. maintain state institutions of higher education by helping to provide a stable financial base to these institutions;

3. provide wide and affordable access to state institutions of higher education for the residents of this state;

4. encourage attendance at state institutions of higher education;

5. provide students and their parents economic protection against rising tuition costs;

6. provide students and their parents assistance in financing postsecondary education;

7. help provide the benefits of higher education to the people of this state; and

8. encourage elementary and secondary students in this state to achieve high standards of performance.

Added by Laws 1988, c. 261, § 2, emerg. eff. June 29, 1988.