State SealARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 

HB 2482: foster care tuition waiver

PRIME SPONSOR: Representative Shope, LD 8

BILL STATUS: Education

 

Legend: ABOR – Arizona Board of Regents DCS – Department of Child Safety FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid Amendments – BOLD and Stricken (Committee)

Abstract

☐ Prop 105 (45 votes) ☐ Prop 108 (40 votes) ☒ Emergency (40 votes) ☐ Fiscal NoteRelating to a postsecondary tuition waiver.

Provisions

1.       Instructs ABOR and the community colleges to provide a tuition waiver scholarship to a person who:

a.       Is or was in foster care at the age of at least 13 or was adopted at the age of at least 13;

b.       Is under 26 years of age and resides in the state;

c.        Is a U.S. citizen or a lawfully present noncitizen;

d.       Has total personal assets under $10,000, excluding scholarships and grants;

e.       Is accepted or enrolled into a public postsecondary institution;

f.         Has submitted a FAFSA before each year and

g.       Remains in good standing with their institution. (Sec. 1)

2.       Permits community college tuition waiver scholarships to be reduced by the amount of public aid a student receives, excluding awards from DCS's Arizona Education and Training Voucher Program. (Sec. 1)

3.       Prohibits university tuition waiver scholarships from being reduced by the amount of public aid the student receives. (Sec. 1)

4.       Defines tuition. (Sec. 1)

Current Law

Laws 2013, Chapter 237 instructed ABOR and each community college district to conduct a five-year pilot program to provide tuition waiver scholarships to persons who:

·         Are or were in foster care at the age of at least 16 or were adopted after the age of 16;

·         Reside in the state and are either a U.S. citizen or a lawfully present noncitizen;

·         Have total personal assets under $10,000, excluding scholarships and grants;

·         Are under 21 years during the first scholarship award and are making satisfactory progress toward a degree or certificate;

·         Are accepted or enrolled into a public postsecondary institution;

·         Complete at least 30 hours of volunteer service annually; and

·         Remain in good standing with the institution.

In addition, to remain eligible for a scholarship the person must demonstrate continuous progress towards a degree or certificate up to the age of 23.  Awards are reduced by the amount of public grants received, excluding grants through the Education and Training Voucher Program.  The program is scheduled to sunset on July 1, 2018.

Additional Information

The Auditor General was instructed to complete an audit of the program which may be found here.

 

 

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Fifty-third Legislature                  HB 2482

Second Regular Session                               Version 1: Education

 

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