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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 5
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 4633
Referred to Committee on HIGHER EDUCATION AND
EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT
Introduced by:
(HED)
AN ACT CONCERNING HIGHER EDUCATION AFFORDABILITY AND
ACCOUNTABILITY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10a-173 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2025): 2
(a) For the purposes of this section: 3
[(1) "Family contribution" means the expected family contribution for 4
educational costs as computed from a student's Free Application for 5
Federal Student Aid;] 6
[(2)] (1) "Student aid index" means the index used to determine 7
eligibility for financial aid as computed from a student's Free 8
Application for Federal Student Aid; 9
[(3)] (2) "Eligible student" means a student who is (A) a resident of 10
the state, (B) enrolled at an institution of higher education in a course of 11
study leading to such student's first associate or bachelor's degree, and 12
(C) carrying, for a full-time student, twelve or more semester credit 13
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hours, or, for a part-time student, between six and eleven semester 14
credit hours at such institution of higher education; 15
[(4)] (3) "Independent institution of higher education" means a 16
nonprofit institution established in this state (A) that has degree-17
granting authority in this state; (B) that has its main campus located in 18
this state; (C) that is not included in the Connecticut system of public 19
higher education; and (D) whose primary function is not the preparation 20
of students for religious vocation; 21
[(5)] (4) "Public institution of higher education" means the constituent 22
units of the state system of higher education identified in subdivisions 23
(1) and (2) of section 10a-1, except the regional community-technical 24
colleges; and 25
[(6)] (5) "Eligible educational costs" means the tuition and required 26
fees for an individual student that are published by each public or 27
independent institution of higher education participating in the grant 28
program established under this section, plus a fixed amount for 29
required books and educational supplies as determined by the Office of 30
Higher Education. 31
(b) The Office of Higher Education shall establish the Roberta B. 32
Willis Scholarship program to annually make need-based financial aid 33
available for eligible educational costs to eligible students enrolled at 34
Connecticut's public and independent institutions of higher education. 35
Within available funds, the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program shall 36
include a need and merit-based grant, a need-based grant and a Charter 37
Oak grant. The need and merit-based grant shall be funded at not less 38
than twenty per cent but not more than thirty per cent of available funds 39
or ten million dollars, whichever is greater. The need-based grant shall 40
be funded at up to eighty per cent of available funds. The Charter Oak 41
grant shall be not less than one hundred thousand dollars of available 42
funds. There shall be an administrative allowance based on one-quarter 43
of one per cent of the available funds, but not less than one hundred 44
thousand dollars annually. The Office of Higher Education shall 45
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disburse the funds appropriated or allocated for the Roberta B. Willis 46
Scholarship program for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2024, and June 47
30, 2025, to make awards pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and 48
allocate funds pursuant to subsections (d) and (f) of this section in 49
accordance with a plan developed by the office, provided the office shall 50
(1) disburse all funds allocated for the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship 51
program from the federal funds designated for the state pursuant to the 52
provisions of Section 602 of Subtitle M of Title IX of the American Rescue 53
Plan Act of 2021, P.L. 117-2, as amended from time to time, on or before 54
December 31, 2024, and (2) in accordance with subsection (f) of section 55
4-89, reserve an amount of not more than fifteen million dollars from the 56
amount appropriated for the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program for 57
the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, for disbursement during the fiscal 58
year ending June 30, 2026. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, and 59
each fiscal year thereafter, the Office of Higher Education shall disburse 60
the funds appropriated for the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program 61
not later than May first annually for grants to be awarded during the 62
following fall semester and not later than November first annually for 63
grants to be awarded during the following spring semester. 64
(c) The Roberta B. Willis Scholarship need and merit-based grant 65
shall be available to any eligible student at any public or independent 66
institution of higher education. The Office of Higher Education shall 67
determine qualification for financial need based on [family contribution 68
prior to July 1, 2024, and, on and after July 1, 2024, based on] the student 69
aid index and qualification for merit based on either previous high 70
school academic achievement or performance on standardized 71
academic aptitude tests. The Office of Higher Education shall make 72
awards according to a sliding scale, annually determined by said office, 73
up to a maximum [family contribution or] student aid index and based 74
on available funds and the number of eligible students who qualify for 75
an award. The Roberta B. Willis Scholarship need and merit-based grant 76
shall be awarded in a higher amount than the need-based grant 77
awarded pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. [, except for the 78
academic year commencing July 1, 2024.] Recipients of the need and 79
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merit-based grant shall not be eligible to receive an additional need-80
based award. The order of institutions of higher education provided by 81
an eligible student on such student's Free Application for Federal 82
Student Aid shall not affect the student's qualification for an award 83
under this subsection. The institution of higher education in which an 84
eligible student enrolls shall disburse sums awarded under the need and 85
merit-based grant for payment of such student's eligible educational 86
costs. 87
(d) The Roberta B. Willis Scholarship need-based grant shall be 88
available to any eligible student at any public or independent institution 89
of higher education. The amount of the annual funds to be allocated to 90
each institution of higher education shall be determined by its actual 91
full-time equivalent enrollment of eligible students with a [family 92
contribution or] student aid index during the fall semester of the fiscal 93
year two years prior to the grant year of an amount not greater than two 94
hundred per cent of the maximum [family contribution or] student aid 95
index eligible for a federal Pell grant award for the academic year one 96
year prior to the grant year. Not later than July first, annually, each 97
institution of higher education shall report such enrollment data to the 98
Office of Higher Education. Not later than October first, annually, the 99
Office of Higher Education shall (1) publish such enrollment data on its 100
Internet web site, (2) notify each institution of higher education of the 101
proportion of the annual funds that such institution of higher education 102
will receive the following fiscal year, and (3) publish the proportions for 103
each institution of higher education on its Internet web site. 104
Participating institutions of higher education shall make awards (A) to 105
eligible full-time students in an amount [up] equal to four thousand five 106
hundred dollars, and (B) to eligible part-time students in an amount that 107
is prorated according to the number of credits each student will earn for 108
completing the course or courses in which such student is enrolled, such 109
that a student enrolled in a course or courses earning (i) at least nine but 110
less than twelve credits is eligible for up to seventy-five per cent of the 111
[maximum] award amount for a full-time student, and (ii) at least six 112
but less than nine credits is eligible for up to fifty per cent of the 113
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[maximum] award amount for a full-time student. Each participating 114
institution of higher education shall expend all of the moneys received 115
under the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program as direct financial 116
assistance only for eligible educational costs. 117
(e) Participating institutions of higher education shall annually 118
provide the Office of Higher Education with data and reports on all 119
eligible students who applied for financial aid, including, but not 120
limited to, students receiving a Roberta B. Willis Scholarship grant, in a 121
form and at a time determined by said office. If an institution of higher 122
education fails to submit information to the Office of Higher Education 123
as directed, such institution shall be prohibited from participating in the 124
scholarship program in the fiscal year following the fiscal year in which 125
such institution failed to submit such information. Each participating 126
institution of higher education shall maintain, for a period of not less 127
than three years, records substantiating the reported number of eligible 128
students and documentation utilized by the institution of higher 129
education in determining qualification of the student grant recipients. 130
Such records shall be subject to audit or review. [For the academic year 131
commencing July 1, 2024, the Office of Higher Education shall (1) not 132
require participating institutions of higher education to reduce the 133
amount of a need-based grant awarded to an eligible student based on 134
the initial qualifications determined from such student's Free 135
Application for Federal Student Aid, even if the United States 136
Department of Education subsequently revises such qualifications, and 137
(2) deem a participating institution of higher education to be in 138
compliance with this section if such initial qualifications qualified an 139
eligible student for the need-based grant that such student was 140
awarded.] Funds not obligated by an institution of higher education 141
shall be returned by [May] April first in the fiscal year the grant was 142
[made] to be awarded to an eligible student to the Office of Higher 143
Education for reallocation for the next fiscal year. Financial aid provided 144
to eligible students under this program shall be designated as a grant 145
from the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program. 146
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(f) The Roberta B. Willis Scholarship Charter Oak grant shall be 147
available to any eligible student enrolled in Charter Oak State College. 148
The Office of Higher Education shall allocate any funds to Charter Oak 149
State College to be used to provide grants for eligible educational costs 150
to eligible students who demonstrate substantial financial need and 151
who are matriculated in a degree program at Charter Oak State College. 152
Individual awards shall not exceed a student's calculated eligible 153
educational costs. Financial aid provided to eligible students under this 154
program shall be designated as a grant from the Roberta B. Willis 155
Scholarship program. 156
(g) In administering the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program, the 157
Office of Higher Education shall develop and utilize fiscal procedures 158
designed to ensure accountability of the public funds expended. Such 159
procedures shall include provisions for compliance reviews that shall be 160
conducted by the Office of Higher Education on any institution of 161
higher education that participates in the program. Commencing with 162
the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, and biennially thereafter, each such 163
institution of higher education shall submit the results of an audit done 164
by an independent certified public accountant for each year of 165
participation in the program. Any institution of higher education 166
determined by the Office of Higher Education not to be in substantial 167
compliance with the provisions of the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship 168
program shall be ineligible to receive funds under the program for the 169
fiscal year following the fiscal year in which the institution of higher 170
education was determined not to be in substantial compliance. Funding 171
shall be restored when the Office of Higher Education determines that 172
the institution of higher education has returned to substantial 173
compliance. 174
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 10a-173
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Statement of Purpose:
To require (1) need-based grants under the Roberta B. Willis Scholarship
program to be equal to four thousand five hundred dollars per student,
and (2) the Office of Higher Education to disburse grants under the
Roberta B. Willis Scholarship program not later than the academic
semester preceding the academic semester in which such grants are to
be awarded to eligible students.
[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.]
Co-Sponsors: SEN. LOONEY, 11th Dist.; SEN. DUFF, 25th Dist.
SEN. ANWAR, 3rd Dist.; SEN. CABRERA, 17th Dist.
SEN. COHEN, 12th Dist.; SEN. FLEXER, 29th Dist.
SEN. GADKAR-WILCOX, 22nd Dist.; SEN. GASTON, 23rd Dist.
SEN. HARTLEY, 15th Dist.; SEN. HOCHADEL, 13th Dist.
SEN. HONIG, 8th Dist.; SEN. KUSHNER, 24th Dist.
SEN. LESSER, 9th Dist.; SEN. LOPES, 6th Dist.
SEN. MAHER, 26th Dist.; SEN. MARONEY, 14th Dist.
SEN. MARX, 20th Dist.; SEN. MCCRORY, 2nd Dist.
SEN. MILLER P., 27th Dist.; SEN. NEEDLEMAN, 33rd Dist.
SEN. RAHMAN, 4th Dist.; SEN. SLAP, 5th Dist.
SEN. WINFIELD, 10th Dist.; REP. REYES, 75th Dist.
REP. KEITT, 134th Dist.
S.B. 5