Bill > AB772

Introduced Session

This bill makes changes to the tuition grant program administered by the Department of Military Affairs relating to eligibility and timing of higher education grants paid to national guard members and to administration of the program. Under current law, DMA awards tuition grants to national guard members to reimburse them for higher education tuition costs if certain eligibility criteria are satisfied. The amount of the tuition grant payment is equal to 100 percent of the actual tuition charged by the guard member's school or 100 percent of the maximum resident undergraduate tuition charged by the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a comparable number of credits, whichever amount is less. Among the eligibility criteria, a national guard member may not receive a tuition reimbursement grant if, at the time of completion of the semester to be reimbursed, the guard member fails to achieve a minimum grade point average of 2.0, fails to be an actively drilling guard member, or fails to be a guard member in good standing. DMA must require a national guard member to repay the amount of a tuition grant if the national guard member is separated from the national guard for misconduct, including being absent without leave for more than nine unit training assemblies. If an eligible student's school has certified to DMA that the student has achieved at least a 2.0 GPA for the semester for which reimbursement is sought, DMA must pay the tuition grant amount to the student within 30 days after receiving this certification. The bill allows an enrolled student who is an eligible national guard member to apply for a tuition grant prior to completion of the semester. The national guard member is not eligible for payment of the tuition grant if, at the time of application for the grant, the guard member is not achieving satisfactory academic progress in his or her school, is not an actively drilling guard member, or is not a guard member in good standing. If an eligible guard member's school has certified to DMA that he or she is achieving satisfactory academic progress, DMA must pay the tuition grant amount to the student's school on the student's behalf, rather than directly to the student, within 30 days after receiving this certification. The bill also requires DMA to require a national guard member to repay a tuition grant if, at the end of the term for which the tuition grant is paid, the national guard member has failed to achieve satisfactory academic progress, failed to be an actively drilling guard member, or failed to be a guard member in good standing. A school must notify DMA if the national guard member who received the tuition grant failed to achieve satisfactory academic progress at the end of the term. If a national guard member is required to repay a tuition grant for any reason, DMA may require the guard member's school to recover from the guard member the amount of the tuition grant and remit it to DMA. The bill also requires DMA to consult and coordinate with higher education institutions in establishing a process for distributing tuition grants that maximizes administrative efficiency for these schools in applying tuition grants to student accounts and provides tuition grants to students in an expeditious manner. For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

Committee Categories

Scott Allen (R)*,  Clint Anderson (D)*,  Mike Bare (D)*,  Janel Brandtjen (R)*,  Sue Conley (D)*,  Dave Considine (D)*,  Barbara Dittrich (R)*,  Cindi Duchow (R)*,  James Edming (R)*,  Jodene Emerson (D)*,  Joy Goeben (R)*,  Evan Goyke (D)*,  Nate Gustafson (R)*,  Kalan Haywood (D)*,  Jenna Jacobson (D)*,  Alex Joers (D)*,  Scott Johnson (R)*,  Darrin Madison (D)*,  Gae Magnafici (R)*,  Dave Maxey (R)*,  Tom Michalski (R)*,  Dave Murphy (R)*,  Jeff Mursau (R)*,  Jerry O'Connor (R)*,  Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D)*,  Lori Palmeri (D)*,  Melissa Ratcliff (D)*,  Katrina Shankland (D)*,  Christine Sinicki (D)*,  Lisa Subeck (D)*,  Paul Tittl (R)*,  Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R),  Tim Carpenter (D),  Dianne Hesselbein (D),  Jesse James (R),  Howard Marklein (R),  Steve Nass (R),  Mark Spreitzer (D),  Patrick Testin (R), 

Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1 (on 04/15/2024)

Official Document