Assigned to MAPS & APPROP FOR COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Sixth Legislature, First Regular Session
FACT SHEET FOR H.B. 2089
military veterans; surviving spouses; scholarships
Purpose
Extends eligibility for a tuition scholarship from the Spouses of Military Veterans Tuition
Scholarship Fund (Spouses of Veterans Tuition Fund) to a person who is an honorably discharged
veteran's surviving spouse who has not remarried.
Background
Subject to available monies, the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) must use Spouses of
Veterans Tuition Fund monies to award a tuition scholarship to any person who: 1) enrolls in an
Arizona public university or community college; 2) is the spouse of an honorably discharged
veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces; 3) qualifies for in-state student status; 4) is an Arizona resident
at the time of applying for and while receiving a tuition scholarship; 5) annually submits the Free
Application For Federal Student Aid; 6) meets satisfactory academic progress standards
established by the university or community college; and 7) completes a Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act of 1974 release form to allow for the release of information needed to determine
continued eligibility. An applicant must submit proof of the applicant's spouse's honorable
discharge or general discharge under honorable conditions and the Arizona Department of
Veterans' Services must verify that the applicant is the spouse of an honorably discharged veteran.
ABOR must award Spouses of Veterans Tuition Fund scholarships on a first-come,
first-served basis in an amount equal to the tuition and mandatory fees charged by the university
or community college, reduced by any other financial aid. A scholarship is limited to up to eight
semesters and must be used only for tuition and mandatory fees at a public university or community
college for a certificate, an associate degree or a baccalaureate degree (A.R.S. ยง 15-1809).
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) fiscal note estimates that additional
scholarships to surviving spouses may generate a demand of $180,000 on the Spouses of Veterans
Tuition Fund. The JLBC states that the Spouses of Veterans Tuition Fund annually receives $10
million from the state General Fund and that ABOR expects the current funding level to cover the
costs of surviving spouse scholarships (JLBC fiscal note).
Provisions
1. Extends eligibility for a Spouses of Veterans Tuition Fund scholarship to a person who is the
surviving spouse, who has not remarried, of an honorably discharged veteran of the U.S.
Armed Forces and otherwise meets the prescribed requirements.
2. Makes technical and conforming changes.
3. Becomes effective on the general effective date. FACT SHEET
H.B. 2089
Page 2
House Action
MAPS 1/30/23 DP 15-0-0-0
3
rd
Read 2/21/23 60-0-0
Prepared by Senate Research
March 27, 2023
LB/KT/sr