Establishing residency criteria for students of technical colleges.
Impact
The legislation intends to simplify the residency determination process for students at technical colleges, thus potentially increasing enrollment by providing clearer guidelines. By allowing certain groups—like active duty servicemembers, employees of the colleges, and those who lost residency within a short timeframe—to qualify for resident fees, SB102 broadens tuition accessibility. This adjustment benefits particular demographics, ensuring they do not face financial obstacles due to residency definitions.
Summary
Senate Bill 102 relates to postsecondary education in Kansas, specifically establishing residency criteria for students enrolling in technical colleges. The bill defines residency for fee purposes, stipulating that adults must have been domiciliary residents of Kansas for a minimum of six months before enrollment. For minors, the residency of their parents is considered. This structure aims to clarify which students will be classified as residents versus non-residents for tuition fees, impacting financial accessibility for potential students.
Contention
Key areas of contention surrounding SB102 could revolve around the prioritization of state residency versus individual circumstances, especially for those from out of state or with fluctuating residency status. Critics may argue the bill does not account for unique situations like military families or transient workers, potentially limiting access to education for these groups. The balance of establishing fair fees while maintaining state regulations may be a point of debate among stakeholders in the education system.
Establishing the Kansas trade service scholarship act and making appropriations to the state board of regents for fiscal year 2025 to provide grants to community colleges, technical colleges and the Washburn institute of technology for capital improvements, repairs and maintenance of trade program buildings.
Enacting the Kansas adult learner grant act to establish a grant program for adult learners to pursue certain fields of study, enacting the career technical education credential and transition incentive for employment success act to require school districts to pay for the cost of assessments for students to obtain an approved career technical education credential, designating military veterans and spouses or dependents of such veterans who were stationed in Kansas for at least 11 months as residents for purposes of tuition and fees at postsecondary educational institutions and expanding the eligible fields of study under the Kansas promise scholarship act.
Removing the Kansas residency requirement for eligibility for a Kansas promise scholarship and modifying the definition of part-time student under such program.
Establishing the Kansas blueprint for literacy and a literacy advisory committee, directing the board of regents to appoint a director of literacy education, requiring the board of regents and board of education to collaborate on a literacy micro-credential, providing university presidents and deans of education oversight over postsecondary literacy courses, requiring a plan to establish centers of excellence in reading, requiring the board of education to submit annual reports to the legislature on literacy goals; establishing the Kansas education opportunity scholarship to replace the Kansas ethnic minority scholarship, removing limits on Kansas nursing service scholarship awards and modifying the interest rate terms and repayment obligations for such awards, eliminating the requirement to subtract other aid from the state payment for the AO-K program, modifying financial limitations on Kansas hero's scholarship awards and broadening eligibility requirements for such awards.