One of the goals of state prepaid tuition and college savings programs is that parents will soon consider participating in Section 529 plans for future higher education costs as commonly as they enroll in 401K plans for their retirement. Too many families are taking on far too much debt for college expenses, and tuition has been consistently rising at double the rate of inflation. The size of student loans is increasing, and more students are taking out loans. The ability of a state to increase the number of families who are prepared to meet higher education costs should eventually relieve pressure on that state's need-based financial aid requirements. As of October 17, 2000, 65 total programs were either operational or scheduled to launch. Establishing these programs and achieving broad-based acceptance is not easy, but such programs should continue to grow as families accept the responsibility of paying what they can afford toward their children's college educations. (SLD)