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Minutes for HB2645 - Committee on Education
Short Title
Amending the nursing service scholarship program to remove limits on the amount of awards and number of scholarships, remove the sponsorship requirement, modify the interest rate terms for repayment obligations and abolish the nursing service scholarship review committee.
Minutes Content for Mon, Feb 12, 2024
The chair opened the hearing on HB2645.
Jason Long presented an overview of the bill which would no longer require a scholarship applicant to have a sponsor. The State would fund the scholarship amount in full.The annual limit on the number of scholarships awarded would be stricken. Each applicant would be required to complete the free application for federal student aid each academic year. (Attachment 5)
Dr. Blake Flanders, President and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents spoke in favor of HB2645. He stated that the bill would eliminate the cap on scholarship amounts and with the elimination of sponsorships, students would not be required to agree to work for particular employers. The bill would also set the interest rate on repayments for students not fulfilling their service obligation to a flat 5% rate. (Attachment 6)
Matt Lindsey, President, Kansas Independent College Association, spoke in favor of HB2645. This bill would make it easier to explain the variety of consequences for non-compliance with the service obligations of each one of the grants. (Attachment 7)
Written only testimony was submitted by Tara Mays, Kansas Hospital Association. (Attachment 8)
There were no opponents or neutral conferees.
The chair closed the hearing on HB2645.
