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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 6074
AN ACT CONCERNING THE STUDENT LOAN REIMBURSEMENT
PROGRAM.
SUMMARY
This bill makes various changes to the Office of Higher Education’s
(OHE) student loan reimbursement program, including:
1. expanding eligibility to former Stone Academy students; and
2. changing the volunteer hour requirement by adding new ways
to earn volunteer hours, requiring OHE to develop a volunteer
hour hardship waiver, and adding new provisions on service
documentation.
The bill also makes technical and grammatical changes.
The student loan reimbursement program was created in 2023 and
launched in January of 2025. Eligible participants are reimbursed for up
to $5,000 of their student loan payments per year (for up to four years)
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2025
ELIGIBILITY EXPANSION
The bill extends student loan reimbursement eligibility to include
individuals who were enrolled in Stone Academy’s practical nurse
education program between November 1, 2021, and February 28, 2023.
(Stone Academy closed suddenly in early 2023. At the time of the
school’s closure, there were students midway through their practical
nurse education program.)
In current law, there is a general requirement that to qualify for
student loan reimbursement, participants must have earned an associate
or bachelor’s degree from a Connecticut institution of higher education
(or meet a licensure or hardship requirement). The bill allows these 2025HB-06074-R000391-BA.DOCX
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former Stone Academy students to qualify for reimbursement
regardless of whether they graduated with a degree from the program.
By law, all participants are required to meet two additional criteria to
qualify for student loan reimbursement: (1) Connecticut residency for at
least five years, and (2) an income below a set threshold.
VOLUNTEER HOURS REQUIREMENT
Eligible Volunteer Work
Under current law, participants in the student loan reimbursement
program must have at least 50 volunteer hours (generally for a nonprofit
organization or municipal government) for each year they participate.
The bill makes various changes to the scope of eligible volunteer work,
including:
1. expanding the eligible nonprofit organizations the participants
can volunteer for to all tax-exempt nonprofits and not just those
registered with the Department of Consumer Protection;
2. specifically adding the U.S. armed forces as an eligible entity to
volunteer for (existing law already includes military service as an
eligible type of volunteer work);
3. specifying that volunteering as a firefighter, emergency medical
personnel, or for a religious organization are eligible ways to
meet the service requirement;
4. adding unpaid work that was required to complete any
certificate or degree program to count as eligible volunteer hours
(these work hours are only eligible for two years after completion
or for the first two years of program participation, whichever is
later); and
5. specifying that an individual can combine hours from more than
one eligible organization to meet the volunteer service
requirement.
2025HB-06074-R000391-BA.DOCX
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Hardship Waiver
The bill also requires OHE to establish a waiver to exempt program
participants from the volunteer hour requirement. OHE must post the
eligibility requirements and application forms for the waiver by January
1, 2026. Under the bill, individuals who were enrolled in the practical
nurse education program at Stone Academy between November 1, 2021,
and February 28, 2023, automatically qualify for the waiver.
Service Documentation
By law, participants must annually submit a form to OHE with the
number of volunteer hours completed. This form must be signed by a
supervisor or other employee of the eligible entity the participant
volunteered for.
The bill specifies that for documenting military service or unpaid
student work volunteer hours, OHE can accept other documentation
outside what is required by existing law. The bill also removes the
requirement that for military service, the form be signed by the
participant’s commanding officer.
Additionally, for documenting volunteer hours at nonprofit
organizations, the bill requires the participant to submit evidence of
current nonprofit certification from the Internal Revenue Service.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 16 Nay 2 (03/13/2025)