Bill > S4179

Introduced Session

This bill amends the law establishing the Community College Opportunity Grant (CCOG) Program to permit adult students enrolled in postsecondary career and technical education programs at county vocational school districts to be eligible to receive financial aid under the program. Under current State law, the CCOG Program provides last-dollar grants to eligible county college students, to pay for the remaining costs of tuition and approved educational fees that are not already covered by any other State, federal, and institutional need-based grants and merit scholarships for which a grant recipient is eligible. Under the bill, an adult student would be eligible for financial aid under the CCOG Program if the student: is a legal resident of the State; is enrolled in a postsecondary career and technical education program of at least four months in length offered by a county vocational school district; is enrolled at the county vocational school district that serves the student's county of residence or is enrolled at an out-of-county vocational school district, in which case the student, if otherwise eligible, would receive a grant under the program to cover the remaining costs of tuition and approved educational fees, charged at the in-district rate for the county vocational school district at which the student is enrolled; does not have an annual adjusted gross income that is negative; has an annual adjusted gross income between $0 and $65,000; has applied for all other available forms of State, federal, and institutional need-based grants and merit scholarships and submitted a financial aid form; does not owe a refund on a grant or scholarship previously received from a State or federal program through any institution or be in default on any loan made under any State or federal student loan program at any institution, unless the student makes arrangements with the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority to repay the debt; and is in good academic standing and meets the minimum standards for academic performance and satisfactory academic progress as defined by county vocational school district which the student is attending. An adult education student enrolled in a postsecondary career and technical education program at a county vocational school district, who is eligible for a financial aid grant under the bill, would be eligible for a financial aid grant for up to two years.

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Linda Greenstein (D)*,  Troy Singleton (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Higher Education Committee (on 11/22/2021)