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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5135
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 1127
Referred to Committee on HIGHER EDUCATION AND
EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT
Introduced by:
(HED)
AN ACT EXPANDING THE ROBERTA B. WILLIS SCHOLARSHIP
PROGRAM TO STUDENTS OF PRIVATE OCCUPATIONAL SCHOOLS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10a-173 of the 2022 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective October 1, 2022): 3
(a) For the purposes of this section: 4
(1) "Family contribution" means the expected family contribution for 5
educational costs as computed from the student's Free Application for 6
Federal Student Aid; 7
(2) "Full-time or part-time undergraduate student" means a student 8
who is enrolled at an institution of higher education in a course of study 9
leading to such student's first associate or bachelor's degree and who is 10
carrying, for a full-time student, twelve or more semester credit hours, 11
or, for a part-time student, between six and eleven semester credit hours 12
at such institution of higher education; 13
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(3) "Independent institution of higher education" means a nonprofit 14
institution established in this state (A) that has degree-granting 15
authority in this state; (B) that has its main campus located in this state; 16
(C) that is not included in the Connecticut system of public higher 17
education; and (D) whose primary function is not the preparation of 18
students for religious vocation; 19
(4) "Public institution of higher education" means the constituent 20
units of the state system of higher education identified in subdivisions 21
(1) and (2) of section 10a-1; 22
(5) "Private occupational school" has the same meaning as provided 23
in section 10a-22a; and 24
[(5)] (6) "Eligible educational costs" means the tuition and required 25
fees for an individual student that are published by each institution of 26
higher education and private occupational school participating in the 27
grant program established under this section, plus a fixed amount for 28
required books and educational supplies as determined by the Office of 29
Higher Education. 30
(b) The state, acting through the Office of Higher Education, shall 31
establish the Governor's Scholarship program to annually make need-32
based financial aid available for eligible educational costs for 33
Connecticut residents (1) enrolled at Connecticut's public and 34
independent institutions of higher education as full-time or part-time 35
undergraduate students beginning with new or transfer students in the 36
fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, and (2) enrolled at Connecticut's private 37
occupational schools beginning with new or transfer students in the 38
fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. On and after July 1, 2016, said program 39
shall be known as the "Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program". Any 40
award made to a student in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, under 41
the capitol scholarship grant program, established under section 10a-42
169 of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2013, 43
the Connecticut aid to public college students grant program, 44
established under section 10a-164a of the general statutes, revision of 45
1958, revised to January 1, 2013, Connecticut aid to Charter Oak, 46
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established under subsection (c) of section 10a-164a of the general 47
statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2013, or the Connecticut 48
independent college student grant program, established under section 49
10a-36 of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 50
2013, shall be offered under the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program 51
and be renewable for the life of the original award, provided such 52
student meets and continues to meet the need and academic standards 53
established for purposes of the program under which such student 54
received the original award. 55
(c) Within available appropriations, the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship 56
program shall include a need and merit-based grant, a need-based grant 57
and a Charter Oak grant. The need and merit-based grant shall be 58
funded at not less than twenty per cent but not more than thirty per cent 59
of available appropriations. The need-based grant shall be funded at up 60
to eighty per cent of available appropriations. The Charter Oak grant 61
shall be not less than one hundred thousand dollars of available 62
appropriations. There shall be an administrative allowance based on 63
one-quarter of one per cent of the available appropriations, but (1) for 64
the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, not less than three hundred fifty 65
thousand dollars, and (2) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, and 66
each fiscal year thereafter, not less than one hundred thousand dollars. 67
In addition to the amount of the annual appropriation allocated to the 68
regional community-technical colleges under subsection (e) of this 69
section, and to regional community-technical college students under 70
subsection (d) of this section, not less than two and one-half per cent of 71
the annual appropriation shall be allocated to the regional community-72
technical colleges to be used for financial aid purposes. 73
(d) The Roberta B. Willis Scholarship need and merit-based grant 74
shall be available to any Connecticut resident who is a full-time or part-75
time undergraduate student at any public or independent institution of 76
higher education or who is a student at a private occupational school. 77
The Office of Higher Education shall determine eligibility by financial 78
need based on family contribution and eligibility by merit based on 79
either previous high school academic achievement or performance on 80
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standardized academic aptitude tests. The Office of Higher Education 81
shall make awards according to a sliding scale, annually determined by 82
said office, up to a maximum family contribution and based on available 83
appropriations and eligible students. The Roberta B. Willis Scholarship 84
need and merit-based grant shall be awarded in a higher amount than 85
the need-based grant awarded pursuant to subsection (e) of this section. 86
Recipients of the need and merit-based grant shall not be eligible to 87
receive an additional need-based award. The order of institutions of 88
higher education and private occupational schools provided by a 89
student on the student's Free Application for Federal Student Aid shall 90
not affect the student's eligibility for an award under this subsection. 91
The accepting institution of higher education and private occupational 92
school shall disburse sums awarded under the need and merit-based 93
grant for payment of the student's eligible educational costs. 94
(e) The Roberta B. Willis Scholarship need-based grant shall be 95
available to any Connecticut resident who is a full-time or part-time 96
undergraduate student at any public or independent institution of 97
higher education or who is a student at a private occupational school. 98
The amount of the annual appropriation to be allocated to each 99
institution of higher education shall be determined by its actual full-100
time equivalent enrollment of undergraduate students who are 101
Connecticut residents with a family contribution during the fall 102
semester of the fiscal year two years prior to the grant year of an amount 103
not greater than two hundred per cent of the maximum family 104
contribution eligible for a federal Pell grant award for the academic year 105
one year prior to the grant year. Not later than July first, annually, each 106
institution of higher education shall report such enrollment data to the 107
Office of Higher Education. Not later than October first, annually, the 108
Office of Higher Education shall (1) publish such enrollment data on its 109
Internet web site, and (2) notify each institution of higher education of 110
the proportion of the annual appropriation that such institution of 111
higher education will receive the following fiscal year and publish the 112
proportions for each institution of higher education on its Internet web 113
site. Participating institutions of higher education shall make awards 114
(A) to eligible full-time students in an amount up to four thousand five 115
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hundred dollars, and (B) to eligible part-time students in an amount that 116
is prorated according to the number of credits each student will earn for 117
completing the course or courses in which such student is enrolled, such 118
that a student enrolled in a course or courses earning (i) at least nine but 119
less than twelve credits is eligible for up to seventy-five per cent of the 120
maximum award, and (ii) at least six but less than nine credits is eligible 121
for up to fifty per cent of the maximum award. The amount of the annual 122
appropriation to be allocated to each private occupational school shall 123
be as determined by the Office of Higher Education. Each participating 124
private occupational school shall make awards to students pursuant to 125
guidelines developed by said office and posted on its Internet web site 126
until such time as regulations are adopted by said office pursuant to the 127
provisions of subdivision (2) of section 10a-161. Each participating 128
institution of higher education and private occupational school shall 129
expend all of the moneys received under the Roberta B. Willis 130
Scholarship program as direct financial assistance only for eligible 131
educational costs. 132
(f) Participating institutions of higher education and private 133
occupational schools shall annually provide the Office of Higher 134
Education with data and reports on all Connecticut students who 135
applied for financial aid, including, but not limited to, students 136
receiving a Roberta B. Willis Scholarship grant, in a form and at a time 137
determined by said office. If an institution of higher education or private 138
occupational school fails to submit information to the Office of Higher 139
Education as directed, such institution or school shall be prohibited 140
from participating in the scholarship program in the fiscal year 141
following the fiscal year in which such institution or school failed to 142
submit such information. Each participating institution of higher 143
education and private occupational school shall maintain, for a period 144
of not less than three years, records substantiating the reported number 145
of Connecticut students and documentation utilized by the institution 146
of higher education and private occupational school in determining 147
eligibility of the student grant recipients. Such records shall be subject 148
to audit or review. Funds not obligated by an institution of higher 149
education or a private occupational school shall be returned by May first 150
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in the fiscal year the grant was made to the Office of Higher Education 151
for reallocation. Financial aid provided to Connecticut residents under 152
this program shall be designated as a grant from the Roberta B. Willis 153
Scholarship program. 154
(g) The Roberta B. Willis Scholarship Charter Oak grant shall be 155
available to any full-time or part-time undergraduate student enrolled 156
in Charter Oak State College. The Office of Higher Education shall 157
allocate any appropriation to Charter Oak State College to be used to 158
provide grants for eligible educational costs to residents of this state 159
who demonstrate substantial financial need and who are matriculated 160
in a degree program at Charter Oak State College. Individual awards 161
shall not exceed a student's calculated eligible educational costs. 162
Financial aid provided to Connecticut residents under this program 163
shall be designated as a grant from the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship 164
program. 165
(h) In administering the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program, the 166
Office of Higher Education shall develop and utilize fiscal procedures 167
designed to ensure accountability of the public funds expended. Such 168
procedures shall include provisions for compliance reviews that shall be 169
conducted by the Office of Higher Education on any institution of 170
higher education and private occupational school that participates in the 171
program. Commencing with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, and 172
biennially thereafter, each such institution of higher education shall 173
submit the results of an audit done by an independent certified public 174
accountant for each year of participation in the program. Commencing 175
with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, and biennially thereafter, each 176
such private occupational school shall submit the results of an audit 177
done by an independent certified public accountant for each year of 178
participation in the program. Any institution of higher education or 179
private occupational school determined by the Office of Higher 180
Education not to be in substantial compliance with the provisions of the 181
Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program shall be ineligible to receive 182
funds under the program for the fiscal year following the fiscal year in 183
which the institution of higher education or private occupational school 184
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was determined not to be in substantial compliance. Funding shall be 185
restored when the Office of Higher Education determines that the 186
institution of higher education or private occupational school has 187
returned to substantial compliance. 188
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2022 10a-173
Statement of Purpose:
To expand the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program to students of
private occupational schools.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]