Brief ⁽¹⁾

SB 380 amends the Ethnic Minority Scholarship Program and provides for a tuition and fee waiver at state educational institutions for certain National Fellowship recipients.

Ethnic Minority Scholarship Program Changes

The Ethnic Minority Scholarship Program is amended to make the following changes:

• Apply the program to any institution of postsecondary education which maintains open enrollment, the main campus or principal place of operation of which is located in Kansas and qualifies as an eligible institution under the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended--thus expanding the program's application to include area vocational-technical schools and technical colleges (already covers Regents institutions, Washburn University, accredited independent institutions, and community colleges).



• Provide that a student's "financial need" under the program will be determined under the federal methodology of student financial need analysis (replaces provisions which specify a student's financial resources include $450 from the student's own work and resources and a parent contribution as determined by a financial needs analysis statement).



• Modify the limitation on the amount of an ethnic minority scholarship by changing to an amount equal to 75.0 percent of the average amount of total tuition and required fees of full-time in-state students (replaces the current cap of $1,500 per year).

Another amendment expands the statement of the rationale for the program to include recognition of the need to enhance diversity of the student population at Kansas postsecondary education institutions.

National Fellowship Recipients-Tuition and Fee Waivers

In accord with State Board of Regents' policies and subject to available appropriations, beginning August 1, 2001, the chancellor or president of each state educational institution may grant a tuition and fee waiver to any of the institution's graduate students who have been awarded a National Fellowship and who are not Kansas residents under KSA 76-719 as amended. The tuition and fee waiver is in addition to any other financial assistance, grants, or tuition or fee waivers and is an amount equal to the difference between the aggregate amount of resident tuition and fees and nonresident tuition and fees for the course of study in which the graduate student is enrolled.

Background

SB 380 was recommended by the Legislative Educational Planning Committee pursuant to its 1999 interim study pertaining to postsecondary education. (See also HB 2590 for recommended changes in the State Scholarship Program and SB 381 for proposed changes in the several professional service scholarship programs.)

The Director of Fiscal Affairs for the State Board of Regents presented testimony in support of the bill. He noted that the program was begun by the 1989 Legislature. He explained that the scholarship is academically competitive, need-based, and provides up to $1,500 for each of four years of full-time college enrollment. During the 1998-99 academic year, a total of $364,452 was awarded to 267 students from a pool of 565 initially eligible applicants.

The conferee explained that under the proposed 75.0 percent of average state university tuition fees method, the projected scholarship cap for FY 2001 would be about $1,900. For FY 2001, the Governor has recommended $360,000 to fund 240 scholarships at $1,500 each. The Director said the impact of the proposed change would be to require an increase in funding of $96,000 or a reduction in the number of maximum awards to about 190.

The conferee said that last December the State Board of Regents had approved a proposed amendment to the program to recognize the need to enhance diversity of the student population in the institutions. The amendment was presented to and adopted by the Committee.

The House Committee of the Whole amended SB 380 to include the substance of HB 2719, pertaining to tuition and fee waivers at state educational institutions for nonresident National Fellowship students.

When HB 2719 was considered by the House Education Committee, the sponsor, Representative Sloan, advocated for the bill. There were no other conferees.

The HB 2719 fiscal note explains that the measure is subject to legislative discretion regarding an appropriation. The State Board of Regents was not able to estimate the fiscal impact of the bill as it did not know how many students would participate. The Board reported that the waiver per student would range from $3,802 at the regional universities and $13,370 at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html