This week the Office of the State Actuary reported at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) Committee on the financial state of the GET program, a program that allows students and their families to prepay for credits at Washington public colleges and universities and be protected from future tuition increases. The Actuary reported that the financial health of the program is strong.

“The GET program is a great way to help working and middle class families save for college,” said Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles and Sen. David Frockt, who represents Kenmore, in a joint statement. “We heard loud and clear from students, many of whom saved for their own educations with GET credits, that we needed to keep this program open. This program reduces the skyrocketing student debt loads that are abounding in this economy.”

The increased state investment that allowed tuition to be held flat in 2013 further reduced the GET program’s already low risk of insolvency down to a minute 0.1 percent in the next 50 years. These factors also increased the funded share of the GET liability from 81 percent as of June 30, 2012, to 94 percent as of June 30, 2013.

“By continuing to increase funding for public higher education, we’ll make sure that college can stay affordable and accessible for students while delivering the kind of world-class quality of education that they need to get the great jobs of the future,” the statement continued. “Doing so will also strengthen state programs, like GET, that help students and families pay for college.”