WHEREAS, as Idaho prepares to compete in the global economy of the 21st century, our citizens       recognize the responsibility of providing their children with the education that will enable them to succeed in life; and

       WHEREAS, since 1980, the constantly rising costs of higher education have out-paced inflation, the rate of increase in public assistance to students and the growth in family income, posing a serious threat to the ability of our citizens to ensure their children’s access to postsecondary education; and

       WHEREAS, since 1992, the annual amount of student loan debt has risen from $15 billion to $35 billion, leaving college graduates with the ever-increasing burden of paying for their college education long after they have completed their education; and

       WHEREAS, it is in the state’s interest that access to postsecondary education for our children be maintained and that encouraging parents to save for their children’s education promotes that public purpose; and

       WHEREAS, government, at both the federal and state levels, needs to encourage savings versus consumption and assisting rather than hindering parents, grandparents, friends and businesses as they seek to support the education of children, grandchildren and others in need of help to meet their higher education goals; and

       WHEREAS, the Idaho College Savings Program provides families with an affordable way to save for college;

       NOW, THEREFORE, I, C.L. “BUTCH” OTTER, Governor of the State of Idaho, do hereby proclaim September 2007, to be

C O L L E G E    S A V I N G S    M O N T H

in Idaho, and in doing so urge the citizens of our state to recognize the benefits of attaining a higher education and urge them to begin saving for their children’s education.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Idaho in Boise on this 1st day of September in the year of our Lord two-thousand and seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred thirty-second and of the Statehood of Idaho the one hundred eighteenth.

BEN YSURSA
SECRETARY OF STATE