In a bold move, Gov. Tom Vilsack used his Jan. 15 Condition of the State Address to pursue an increase in the educational qualities of the state of Iowa, largely focusing his plan on higher education — a much ignored issue of his first term as governor.

Vilsack’s new plan calls for what he refers to as the 90/90 Plan: Giving access to quality preschool for 90 percent of children and pushing for 90 percent of high school graduates to receive at least two years of higher education. His goal? To “double the number of employed Iowans with college experience,” as Vilsack stated the address.

The 90/90 Plan is a huge step in correcting current problems with tuition hikes. Over the last three years, tuition has increased by roughly 50 percent, putting an increasing strain on the budgets of college students and parents attempting to pay for the expensive venture without loans. With any luck, Vilsack’s new plan will relieve much of that stress by providing two years of assistance in paying for higher education to present and future high school graduates.

Despite being an aggressive move, this new plan still lacks the audacious nature that some states use to pursue furthering education. One of those such states is Georgia.

Georgia introduced what is referred to as the HOPE Scholarship in 1993. The acronym stands for Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally. The scholarship provides the state’s high school graduates with one year’s worth of tuition if attending a public university in Georgia, according to the Georgia Student Finance Commission. Students bound for private schools also can receive monetary incentives. Those students receive $3,000 per academic year and become eligible for a $1,045 state-provided grant.

To qualify, the student must have achieved an average of a 3.0 grade point average in high school on a 4.0 scale. The scholarship can be renewed yearly as long as the student maintains a 3.0 in college.

The HOPE Program is funded by the Georgia Lottery for Education. Reports on the GSFC Web site indicate that more than $1.7 billion dollars has been funded to more than 670,000 students in the state.

While not quite comparing to the progressive HOPE Scholarship and not establishing where funding will come from, the 90/90 Plan still genuinely looks to improve conditions for aspiring college students. Vilsack realizes that as “college tuitions continue to go up and some students may be discouraged from attending,” as he stated in his address.

The 90/90 plan may not benefit anyone currently attending Iowa State, but if it goes through it will at least give future students a chance to focus on studying finances, not worrying about their own.

Editorial Board: Cavan Reagan, Amber Billings, Ayrel Clark, Charlie Weaver