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REFERENCE TITLE: community college opportunity grants; appropriations |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session 2024
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SB 1723 |
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Introduced by Senator Gonzales
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An Act
amending title 15, chapter 12, article 3, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-1454; appropriating monies; relating to community college district governing boards.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 15, chapter 12, article 3, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-1454, to read:
15-1454. Community college opportunity grants; eligibility requirements; fund; definition
A. Beginning August 1, 2024, each community college district governing board and tribal college shall award community college opportunity grants for eligible students as prescribed in subsection C of this section. The grants shall be used to pay for tuition and approved educational fees for up to eighteen credit hours at any tribal college or community college within the community college district for one year.
B. The community college opportunity grants shall be funded with monies distributed from the community college opportunity grant fund established by this section. If in any fiscal year monies in the community college opportunity grant fund are insufficient to pay tuition and approved educational fees for each eligible student for one year as prescribed in this section, the monies distributed from the fund in that fiscal year shall be prorated. The amount of a community college opportunity grant may not exceed the cost of tuition and approved educational fees for up to eighteen credit hours per semester at the tribal college or community college of attendance for one year minus all other financial aid, which shall be credited first to the student's tuition and approved educational fees, including financial aid received from a federal Pell grant. An eligible student who is enrolled in fewer than twelve credit hours per semester may receive a maximum grant amount that is prorated from the full-time tuition grant amount based on the number of credit hours in which that student is enrolled.
C. To be eligible for a community college opportunity grant, a student must meet all of the following requirements:
1. Have graduated from any of the public or private high school options in this state pursuant to section 15-802 or have obtained a high school equivalency diploma in this state.
2. Complete and submit a free application for federal student aid.
3. Meet enrollment eligibility criteria and enroll at a tribal college or community college in this state for at least six credit hours.
4. Be either:
(a) A dependent student who reports on a free application for federal student aid a parental federal adjusted gross income of $65,000 or less.
(b) An independent student who reports on a free application for federal student aid a family adjusted gross income of $65,000 or less.
5. Submit a high school or high school equivalency transcript that proves the student graduated with a minimum grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale. If high school records no longer exist for the student or every reasonable effort has been made to obtain official records and the records cannot be located, the student may submit either of the following for the purposes of this paragraph:
(a) A letter certified by the high school from which the student graduated that states the student's grade point average.
(b) If the student's grade point average is evidenced by the student's high school diploma, the student's original high school diploma.
D. The community college opportunity grant fund is established consisting of legislative appropriations. The state treasurer shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are subject to legislative appropriation. The state treasurer shall distribute monies from the fund to each tribal college and community college in this state based on the cost of tuition and mandatory fees minus all other financial aid for students who are eligible for grants pursuant to this section. Tribal colleges and community college districts shall cooperate and provide all necessary information to the state treasurer for the purpose of disbursing grant monies for eligible students.
E. For the purposes of this section, "approved educational fees" means any of the following:
1. General fees.
2. Registration fees.
3. Facility fees.
4. Technology fees.
5. Lab fees or other program or course fees, including fees for coursework in nursing, culinary and other career and technical education programs.
Sec. 2. Appropriations; community college opportunity grant fund; fiscal years 2024-2025 through 2026-2027
The sum of $5,000,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in each of fiscal years 2024-2025, 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 to the community college opportunity grant fund established by section 15-1454, Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.
Sec. 3. Retroactivity
This act applies retroactively to from and after July 31, 2024.