Stanley G. Tate
The Stanley G. Tate Florida Prepaid College Program
To provide Florida families with an affordable means to save for their children’s
future college education, the Florida Legislature created the Florida Prepaid College
Program in 1987, and the first Florida Prepaid College Plans were sold in 1988.
Mr. Stanley G. Tate was instrumental in the early development of the Florida Prepaid
College Board and served tirelessly as Chairman of the Board during the program’s
first 18 years, from 1987 to 2005.
In recognition of Mr. Tate’s service, Governor Jeb Bush signed House Bill
263 into law on June 26, 2006, renaming the program the Stanley G. Tate Florida
Prepaid College Program. The Prepaid College Board is grateful for Mr. Tate’s
commitment and leadership throughout his years of service.
While Tate served as Chairman of the Board, the Board sold 1,052,080 total contracts,
and more than 142,000 children had used their plan benefits attending a college
or university. At that time, the Prepaid College Trust Fund’s assets, including
accounts receivables, totaled $6.5 billion and had an actuarial reserve of $530
million, representing 8.9 percent of the Fund’s liabilities. In addition,
the Foundation Board awarded more than 21,000 tuition and local fee scholarships,
of them 15,472 were awarded to Stanley Tate Project STARS students, helping Florida’s
children build a better future through a college education.
The Stanley Tate Project STARS Scholarship Program
On November 8, 2005 Governor Jeb Bush, the Florida Cabinet and members of the Foundation’s
Board recognized Stanley G. Tate for 18 years of service as Chairman of the Florida Prepaid College
Board and 15 years of service as Chairman of the Florida Prepaid College Foundation Board. The
Following Resolution was passed renaming the Project STARS Program to the
“Stanley Tate Project STARS Scholarship Program”:
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Stanley G. Tate is the founder of the Florida Prepaid College
Program and Chairman of the Board since its inception in 1987; and
WHEREAS, Stanley Tate has spent many years advocating public policy to
make college financially affordable for every family in Florida and to provide every child in
Florida the opportunity to go to college; and
WHEREAS, under Stanley Tate’s leadership, the Florida Prepaid College
Program is the single largest, most successful prepaid college program in the country and is the
model for other states to replicate; and
WHEREAS, Florida has sold approximately 1,052,080 prepaid college contracts
to Florida residents, totaling more contracts than all other states in the nation combined; and
WHEREAS, with Stanley Tate’s guidance, the Prepaid College Board
created Florida’s College Investment Plan in 2002, providing families with an easy, affordable way
to save for their children’s future college expenses; and
WHEREAS, Stanley Tate is also the founder and chairman of the Florida Prepaid
College Foundation, whose mission is to provide the opportunity of a college education to low-income
children who are at risk of dropping out of school, through the Project STARS scholarship program; and
WHEREAS, with efforts from Stanley Tate, the Florida Prepaid College
Foundation developed other new and innovative ways to reach out to the community and open the door to higher
education, and working with the Florida Prepaid Board, created scholarship programs celebrating diversity,
public service, heroism and other educational initiatives; and
WHEREAS, today, the Florida Prepaid College Foundation has awarded over
21,000 tuition and local fee scholarships, of which 15,742 were awarded to Project STARS students; and
WHEREAS, the devotion and passion Stanley Tate has demonstrated over the past
19 years has earned him the respect and admiration of numerous families and professionals throughout the
state and nation, therefore, it is only fitting that the Florida Prepaid Foundation honor him with the
re-naming of the Project STARS scholarship program to the “Stanley Tate Project STARS scholarship
program.”
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Governor and Cabinet of the State
of Florida do hereby recognize
STANLEY G. TATE
for his exemplary record of professional and dedicated service to the families and children of the
State of Florida.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, Stanley Tate should be credited for his contributions
in providing leadership and guidance to numerous education, charitable and community organizations for
the benefit of families and children, championing the establishment of the Florida Prepaid College Program,
implementing the College Investment Plan and through the Prepaid College Foundation redirecting the lives
of thousands of Florida’s children by providing them with the opportunity to achieve their true
potential in life.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, the Governor and the Cabinet of the State of Florida
have hereto subscribed their names and have cause the Official Seal of the State of Florida to be hereunto
affixed in the City of Tallahassee on the 8th day of November 2005.