A. There is hereby created in the State Treasury an "Oklahoma College Tuition Trust Fund" into which shall be deposited all assets accruing to the Trust including payments received by the Trust from purchasers on behalf of qualified beneficiaries, and from which, upon appropriation, shall be paid all expenditures of the Trust. The fund may be divided into separate accounts. Any unexpended balance in the fund at the end of any fiscal year shall not be transferred into the General Revenue Fund. All interest or other increase earned from the investment of money in the Oklahoma Tuition Trust Fund shall be credited to and deposited to the fund. Monies in the fund shall not be commingled with any other monies of the Regents.
B. The Regents shall annually prepare or cause to be prepared an accounting of the Trust and shall transmit a copy of the accounting to the Governor and to each house of the Legislature. The accounts of the Regents shall be subject to annual audits by the State Auditor and Inspector.
C. 1. The fund shall be administered by the Regents in a manner reasonably designed to be actuarially sound such that the assets of the fund will be sufficient to defray the obligations of the fund. The actuarial assumptions shall take into consideration the age of each qualified beneficiary, the projected earnings of the fund investments and the estimated cost of tuition payments for qualified beneficiaries to institutions of higher education; and
2. In the accounting of the Trust made pursuant to this section, the Regents shall annually evaluate or cause to be evaluated the actual soundness of the Trust and determine the additional assets needed, if any, to defray the obligations of the Trust. If there are not sufficient funds to ensure the actual soundness of the Trust, the Regents shall adjust payments of subsequent purchases to ensure its actuarial soundness. In no case shall there be an appropriation of monies from general revenue to the Regents for purposes of the Oklahoma Tuition Trust Act; however, nothing in this subsection shall prevent state agencies from providing assistance to the Regents. The assets and earnings of the Trust shall be the sole source for payment of the liabilities incurred by the Trust pursuant to the Oklahoma Tuition Trust Act.
D. Unless otherwise provided by resolution of the Regents, assets of the Trust shall be expended in the following order of priority:
1. to make payments to institutions of higher education on behalf of qualified beneficiaries;
2. to make refunds upon termination of an advance tuition payment contract; and 3. to pay the costs of administration and organization of the Trust and the fund.
E. Assets of the Trust may be invested in any instrument, obligation, security, or property considered appropriate by the Trust and may be pooled for investment purposes with investments of the state, including, but not limited to, state pension funds, on such terms and conditions as are agreeable to the Trust.
Added by Laws 1988, c. 261, § 10, emerg. eff. June 29, 1988.