SLS 19RS-2539 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 206
BY SENATOR MORRISH
POSTSECONDARY ED. Requests the Louisiana Community and Technical College
System to continue a pilot scholarship program for certain adults.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To urge and request the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, in
3 coordination with the Board of Regents and the Louisiana Office of Student
4 Financial Assistance, to continue a pilot program to provide public postsecondary
5 education scholarships to certain adult students and to submit written reports of its
6 findings regarding the development and implementation of the program, including
7 any recommendations for related legislation, to the Senate Committee on Education
8 not later than sixty days prior to the beginning of the 2020 Regular Session of the
9 Legislature and the 2021 Regular Session of the Legislature.
10 WHEREAS, current data and occupational forecasts indicate that a majority of high-
11 demand, high-paying occupations will require more than a high school education; and
12 WHEREAS, half of Louisiana's working-age adults have a high school diploma or
13 less and lack the skills and education needed to fully participate in the economy; and
14 WHEREAS, every effort must be made to provide greater access to postsecondary
15 education to those adults in order to move them from the rolls of the underemployed or
16 unemployed to the rolls of a skilled workforce and to ensure that they are prepared to meet
17 the current and future workforce needs of the state and are capable of self-sufficiency; and
18 WHEREAS, House Resolution No. 112 and Senate Resolution No. 113 of the 2018
Page 1 of 3 SR NO. 206
SLS 19RS-2539 ORIGINAL
1 Regular Session of the Legislature requested the Louisiana Community and Technical
2 College System to develop a pilot program to provide public postsecondary education
3 scholarships for use in programs aligned with high-demand, high-paying occupations by
4 Louisiana's working-age citizens who have earned an alternative high school diploma and
5 who have scored at least a seventeen on the ACT; and
6 WHEREAS, the scholarship program for adults did attract and engage more of the
7 working-age population in public postsecondary education; and
8 WHEREAS, the adults participating in the scholarship program have demonstrated
9 success with higher average rates of persistence and grade point averages than students who
10 graduated from high school and have received a TOPS-Tech award; and
11 WHEREAS, further development of this pilot scholarship program is necessary to
12 aid in the development of a well-educated, highly skilled, and productive workforce, which
13 is of paramount importance to the economic growth of this state.
14 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
15 does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, in
16 coordination with the Board of Regents and the Louisiana Office of Student Financial
17 Assistance, to further develop and expand the pilot program created in response to the
18 request of House Resolution No. 112 and Senate Resolution No. 113 of the 2018 Regular
19 Session of the Legislature to provide public postsecondary education scholarships for use
20 in programs aligned with high-demand, high-paying occupations by Louisiana's working-age
21 citizens who have earned an alternative high school diploma.
22 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the scale of the expanded pilot scholarship
23 program administered by the Louisiana Community and Technical College System shall be
24 determined by the funds raised by the colleges or appropriated to them.
25 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Louisiana Community and Technical
26 College System shall submit a written report of its findings regarding the development and
27 implementation of the pilot program, including any recommendations for related legislation,
28 to the Senate Committee on Education not later than sixty days prior to the beginning of the
29 2020 Regular Session of the Legislature and the 2021 Regular Session of the Legislature.
30 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
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SLS 19RS-2539 ORIGINAL
1 president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, the commissioner of
2 higher education, and the executive director of the Louisiana Office of Student Financial
3 Assistance.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Nancy Vicknair.
DIGEST
SR 206 Original 2019 Regular Session Morrish
Requests that the La. Community and Technical College System (LCTCS), in coordination
with the Bd. of Regents and the La. Office of Student Financial Assistance, further develop
and expand a scholarship program for use in certain programs by working-age citizens and
that LCTCS submit written reports of findings regarding the development and
implementation of the pilot program, including any recommendations for related legislation,
to the Senate Committee on Education not later than 60 days prior to the beginning of 2020
R.S. and 2021 R.S.
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