Tuition futures programs and alternative plans are considered that might be enacted in New York State. Tuition futures is a college finance technique that involves a guarantee of stable tuition rates in return for payment years in advance. After describing tuition increases nationwide and in New York State, information is provided on prepayment or guarantee plans, tuition stabilization plans, tuition gift certificates, and tuition futures plans. Some elements of a state tuition futures plan are described, including: the residency and age of beneficiaries; purchasers' residence and relationship to the beneficiary; types of participating colleges; and administration of the trust. Issues concerning viability that are inherent to the tuition futures idea are considered, along with some possible modes of state involvement and questions of effectiveness and fairness. Brief information on tuition futures laws and bills in the following six states is presented in an appendix: Michigan, Wyoming, Tennessee, Indiana, Florida, and Maine. Two federal proposals are also briefly described, and the text of a bill to create the Michigan education trust is given in full. A second appendix contains brief descriptions of proposals for saving incentive plans in Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, Missouri, Georgia; H.R. 817, the Family Education Assistance Act of 1987, is also described. A list of 110 endnotes concludes the document. (SW)