HB1960: Tuition Assistance Grant Program; amends criteria to be eligible to receive tuition assistance.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 23-38.12 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 23-38.12. Program of tuition assistance established.
There is hereby established, from funds provided by law, a
program of tuition assistance in the form of grants, as hereinafter provided,
to or on behalf of bona fide residents of Virginia who attend private,
accredited and nonprofit institutions of collegiate education in the
Commonwealth whose primary purpose is to provide collegiate, graduate, or
professional education and not to provide religious training or theological
education. Eligible institutions not admitted to this program before January
1, 2011, shall also (i) be formed, chartered, established, or incorporated
within the Commonwealth; (ii) have their principal place of business within the
Commonwealth; (iii) conduct their primary educational activity within the
Commonwealth; and (iv) be accredited by a nationally recognized regional
accrediting agency. Individuals who have failed to meet the federal
requirement to register for the Selective Service shall not be eligible to
receive these grants. However, a person who has failed to register for the
Selective Service shall not be denied a right, privilege, or benefit under this
section if: (i)(a) the requirement to so register has terminated
or become inapplicable to the person and (ii)(b) the person shows
by a preponderance of the evidence that the failure to register was not a
knowing and willful failure to register. The State Council of Higher Education
shall be assisted in enforcing this provision by the private institutions of
higher education whose students benefit from this program. Unless otherwise
indicated, as used in this chapter "accredited" means any institution
approved to confer degrees pursuant to Chapter 21.1 (§ 23-276.1 et seq.) of
this title.
For the purposes of this section, the "principal place of business" of a nonprofit institution of collegiate education means the single state in which the natural persons who establish policy for the direction, control, and coordination of the operations of the institution as a whole primarily exercise that function, considering the following factors: (1) the state in which the primary executive and administrative offices of the institution are located; (2) the state in which the principal office of the chief executive officer of the institution is located; (3) the state in which the board of trustees, or similar governing person or persons, of the institution conducts a majority of its meetings; and (iv) the state from which the overall operations of the institution are directed.
2. That the provisions of this act shall not alter the eligibility criteria for participation in the tuition assistance grant program for any nonprofit institution of collegiate education that had an application pending with the State Council of Higher Education as of January 1, 2011.
Patrons-- Rust, Albo, Bell, Richard P., Carr, Cline, Crockett-Stark, Greason, Howell, W.J., Jones, Kilgore, Landes, Lingamfelter, Morefield, Morgan, O'Bannon, Peace and Tata; Senators: Barker, Blevins, Herring, Marsden, McEachin, Northam, Puckett, Quayle, Reynolds and Ruff
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 23-38.12 and 23-38.13 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 23-38.12. Program of tuition assistance established.
There is hereby established, from funds provided by law, a
program of tuition assistance in the form of grants, as hereinafter provided,
to or on behalf of bona fide residents of Virginia who attend private, nationally recognized, regionally accredited, and nonprofit institutions of
collegiate education in that are formed, chartered, or established within
the Commonwealth, or that were
admitted into this program as of January 1, 2011, whose
primary purpose is to provide collegiate, graduate, or professional education
and not to provide religious training or theological education. Individuals who
have failed to meet the federal requirement to register for the Selective
Service shall not be eligible to receive these grants. However, a person who
has failed to register for the Selective Service shall not be denied a right,
privilege, or benefit under this section if: (i) the requirement to so register
has terminated or become inapplicable to the person and (ii) the person shows
by a preponderance of the evidence that the failure to register was not a
knowing and willful failure to register. The State Council of Higher Education
shall be assisted in enforcing this provision by the private institutions of
higher education whose students benefit from this program. Unless otherwise
indicated, as used in this chapter "accredited" means any institution
approved to confer degrees pursuant to Chapter 21.1 (§ 23-276.1 et seq.) of this title.
§ 23-38.13. State Council of Higher Education designated as administering agency; power to define certain terms.
The State Council of Higher Education is hereby designated as the administering agency for the program established by this chapter, and authorized to promulgate regulations consistent therewith and appropriate to the administration of the program. The administering agency shall have the power to define by regulation such terms as, but not limited to, "full-time," "undergraduate," "graduate," "professional," "successful academic year," "financial aid," "meritorious extenuating circumstances," and "incapacity" as used in this chapter. The Council shall keep a current, and periodically updated, list of institutions eligible to receive grants pursuant to this chapter on behalf of eligible students.