Aug 19, 2014 12:26 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Texas State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte announced a proposal for the state to invest $2 billion in a new fund that would pay the tuition costs for Texas high school graduates to attend a community or technical college, the San Antonio Express News reported.

The "Texas Promise" is modeled after the "Tennessee Promise," a plan recently approved in April to cover the first two years of community college.

Van de Putte, the Democratic nominee for Texas lieutenant governor, said the proposal would "put Texans and jobs first by removing "the barriers." The proposal represents the "first major higher education policy proposal in the race for the state's No. 2 job," the San Antonio Express News reported.

"Every hard-working high school graduate in Texas deserves an opportunity to go to college, receive technical education and obtain post-high school credentials. It is time to get Texans prepared for the jobs of the future," Van de Putte said in a statement.

Under her proposal, voters would decide whether to approve a constitutional amendment to take $2 billion from the Rainy Day Fund to start the new Texas Promise Fund.

Interest earned on the Texas Promise Fund's investment "would pay the community or technical college tuition for applicable students beginning in fall 2016," the San Antonio Express News reported.

To participate in the program, students would have to apply after high school, qualify for in-state tuition rates, and take at least 12 hours of classes per semester.

Books, tuition, living expenses and other non-tuition fees and costs, would not be covered by the scholarship. Undocumented immigrants who lived in the state for at least three years would also be applicable.

"This would be a one time investment that could change a generation," Van de Putte is quoted as saying by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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