Times may be tough, but saving for college is one way to make a little money now and a lot for your children down the road.

One way to save is through the state’s CollegeChoice savings plan, an IRS code 529 program that will help earn tax free money for college and be eligible for up to $1,000 of state income tax credits.

Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock said Friday the plan is one of the lowest costing plans in the nation. An idea he had because he wants to target middle to lower-income families and get them saving for college.

“We saw a number of people, because they could get the tax credit, write checks for $5,000 and get a $1,000 tax credit,” Mourdock said. “There’s nothing wrong with that but I wanted to see more middle-income families save.”

The plan has been around in this state since the early 1990s, but this September, the treasury changed providers from J.P. Morgan Chase to UPromise, a Boston-based provider that specializes in college savings plans. With the change, the cost to parents is minimal, thus more will go towards their child’s college fund.

Mourdock said when he talks to new parents, he likes to point to statistics that say in 18 years, the cost of a four-year education will be about $180,000.

“A lot of young people just throw up their hands and roll their heads,” Mourdock said. “To which I add, we had a lot of college graduates walk in 2008 with two things — a college diploma and a huge mountain of debt. Every dollar that you can save now will be one less they have to borrow when you child goes to college.”

Mourdock said that even if a child does not go to college, but rather a technical school or any accredited educational program, money from the savings plan can be used, even if a child goes to school out of state.

Some post-secondary education will be needed, Mourdock said. He quoted demographics that in 10 years, the educational level of those retired will be higher than those currently in the workforce.

“That has never happened in the history of the world,” Mourdock said. “No nation has demonstrably dumbed down like that. That’s bad news for society globally but it’s good news for those who have college degrees.”

Through marketing of the plan statewide, the numbers of parents enrolling have increased. In Daviess County alone, only 24 families were enrolled in January 2007. By August 2008, 317 families enrolled in the state program, a 1,221 percent increase.

Mourdock hopes statewide to have at least 10 percent of Hoosier families enrolled in the college choice plan by 2010.

“My goal is to have one in 10 Hoosiers saving for college,” Mourdock said. “That would be 660,000 accounts. It is going to take us a while to get there to be sure.”

Even with the volatility of today’s market, Mourdock encouraged people to invest. He gave two reasons: one, the world is looking towards Wall Street for leadership and two, stocks are on sale.

“It’s like they’re having a sale at Wal-Mart, they are having a sale on Wall Street,” Mourdock said. “Stocks are lower then they have been in years.”

There are several ways one can get more information or sign up for the CollegeChoice plan. If a family has a financial advisor, they can talk with them about the 529 fund or if they invest on their own, www.collegechoice.com on the Web can sign a family up. On the site, there are tools to help pick the right plan for a family.

On the site, one can start saving with as little as $25. Another feature Mourdock said was exciting was the UGift feature, where parents, grandparents, friends and other family members can give to a child’s college savings fund from their computer.

“You can send an e-mail to the child’s parents, aunts and uncles, and you can say instead of giving them a toy, how about contributing to their college savings program?” Mourdock said. “They can just click on the link that takes them to the forms and if they are Hoosiers, they too get a 20 percent credit on their income taxes.”

Federally, through the Internal Revenue Service, the interest collected on 529 plans is not subject to federal income taxes when the money is used. Starting last year, up to $1,000, or 20 percent, in the 529 plan will not pay state income taxes.