Experts tell us that 4-year-olds have much to gain from a stimulating and nurturing preschool experience, and mounting evidence suggests that these benefits accrue to society on a much larger scale as well. Although numerous proposals acknowledge the benefits of and need for improved early childhood education, few contain specific recommendations for how to go about financing a major expansion. This paper explores ways to finance a preschool program that would be universally available to all 4-year-olds in the country, a program that would be of at least moderate quality (and in many places of high quality). We review existing programs in the United States and abroad, as well as a variety of proposals for expanding preschool for 4-year-olds in this country, before turning to our own proposed expansion. We base our proposal on ability-to-pay as reflected in the existing tax system, and focus on parents as the main financial contributors, with additional funds transferred from existing state and federal programs that subsidize child care for this age group.