PUBLIC PURPOSE.

An educated population being necessary to the social development and economic health of this state, the legislature finds and declares it to be an urgent public necessity to assist young Texans in obtaining a higher education. Because the state's population is rapidly growing and is diverse, the state is required to use all of the higher education facilities and resources within the state, both public and private, to provide a wide variety of educational environments and instructional options and to preserve the partnership between the state and private or independent institutions of higher education and between the state and career schools and colleges, as defined by Section 132.001, that offer a two-year associate degree as approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Therefore, the prepaid higher education tuition program is established to help Texas students attend the institution that best meets their individual needs.