"It was a long and difficult process, but after all the proposals were reviewed on their own merits and evaluated against each other, it was determined that American Century would continue to best meet the needs of Learning Quest's more than 93,000 account owners and combined assets of nearly $1.5 billion," said Kansas State Treasurer Lynn Jenkins, CPA.

The State Treasurer's office administers the Learning Quest Education Savings Program as well as the Schwab 529 College Savings Plan, both of which are managed by American Century.

"The committee charged with reviewing the proposals worked hard to ensure that Kansas account owners will continue to have the best plan available to them to save for their loved ones' post-secondary education," continued Jenkins. "Current and future account holders will benefit from this decision through lower fees and more investment options."

"We're extremely pleased to continue working with the State Treasurer's Office," said American Century President and Chief Executive Officer William M. Lyons. "With this renewal comes some exciting program enhancements that will allow Kansas to continue offering one of the most competitive college savings programs in the nation."

Learning Quest will feature expanded investment options and lower fees. The static portfolios using Vanguard's index-based mutual funds will remain some of the lowest cost options in the 529 college savings plan industry. The program management fee has been reduced by almost half, from .39 percent to .20 percent.

Learning Quest also will continue to offer blended portfolios that start off more aggressive when the beneficiary is young and automatically become more conservative as they get closer to needing the funds for college expenses. Costs have been lowered in these portfolios by blending in Vanguard index-based mutual funds with American Century's actively managed funds. American Century also has added a lower-cost age-based portfolio that includes only index-based mutual funds.

Learning Quest Advisor will include the same low program management fee along with a new multi-manager approach, including funds from The Hartford Mutual Funds, Oppenheimer® Funds, Principal® Financial Group and RiversourceSM Investments.

Since its roll out in 2003, the Schwab 529 plan has been a fast growing, nationally distributed program. The program management fee for the Schwab 529 plan also will be reduced to .20 percent. The Schwab 529 College Savings Plan features a selection of six static portfolios and four age-based choices that differ based on investment objective, risk tolerance and the beneficiary's age. Ranging from conservative to aggressive, the portfolios consist of professionally managed, no-transaction-fee mutual funds from multiple fund companies: American Century Investments, PIMCO Funds, Schwab Funds®, Transamerica Corporation and Laudus FundsTM.

"We received multiple proposals, but none were compelling enough to unseat American Century as the program manager," Jenkins said. "I am confident in the decision to continue with American Century and look forward to further improvements to Learning Quest."

Jenkins, a former State Representative and Senator from Topeka, was re-elected to her second term as Kansas State Treasurer on Nov. 7, 2006. During her time as Treasurer, Jenkins has expanded investment options in Learning Quest and oversaw the re-bidding of the nearly $1.5 billion program, returned an average of $9 million a year in unclaimed property to Kansans, initiated multiple financial literacy programs, and eliminated the reliance on state general fund dollars to operate the office. She is a Certified Public Accountant and former small business owner.

General information about Learning Quest is available by calling 1-800-579-2203 or by visiting learningquest.com. Investment advisors interested in Learning Quest Advisor should call 1-877-882-6236 or visit www.learningquest.com.

Information about the Schwab 529 College Savings Plan is available by calling 1-800-435-4000 or by visiting www.schwab.com/529.

American Century Investments is a leading investment manager with nearly five decades of experience helping investors achieve their financial goals. For more information about the company, visit www.americancentury.com.

The Charles Schwab Corporation (Nasdaq: SCHW) is a leading provider of financial services. The Schwab 529 College Savings Plan is distributed nationally by Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., Member SIPC (www.sipc.org). Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. is the broker dealer subsidiary of the Charles Schwab Corporation