(RALEIGH) -- North Carolina's Pre-K program will create 2,000 additional slots this year for at-risk 4-year-olds.  The move comes after Gov. Bev Perdue said she has identified $9.3 million from child care subsidy funds.

“NC Pre-K is a nationally recognized, academic program that helps prepare children to succeed in kindergarten, throughout school and in life,” said Perdue. “This additional investment in our children will pay big dividends for all North Carolina because these children will be less likely to fall behind and drop out later in life.”

Gov. Perdue has stress the critical nature of the NC Pre-K program since the General Assembly reduced the number of slots available to at-risk four-year-olds last year.

The Governor's administration sites data from the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at UNC-Chapel Hill that show children who attended the Pre-K program have significantly higher end-of-grade test scores in third grade than similar children who did not have the benefit of the program.

The administration says current funding provides service for approximately 24,700 children, while approximately 67,000 at-risk 4-year-olds are eligible for the program each year.