[Oasfaa] Governor Approves OKPromise bill today

[Fair, Bryce]

Today, Governor Fallin signed into law SB 529 (by Sen. Jason Smalley and Rep. Katie Henke), the bill making significant changes to the Oklahoma's Promise scholarship program.  The bill will become effective July 1, 2017.  The text of the final version of the bill is available at http://webserver1.lsb.state.ok.us/cf_pdf/2017-18%20ENR/SB/SB529%20ENR.PDF (the official signed version of the bill is not yet available electronically).
As a reminder, the bill contains the following changes:
*       Increasing the application family income limit to $55,000 AGI beginning in 2017-18:  The current $50,000 limit has not been adjusted since 2000.  The adjustment to $55,000 based on Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) applies to 8th, 9th, and 10th-grade applicants beginning in the 2017-18 school year. The bill also further adjusts the income limit to $60,000 for 8th, 9th, and 10th-grade applicants beginning in 2021-22.
*       Authorizing more postsecondary career technology certificate programs:  Currently, only career technology courses that qualify for college credit are eligible for the use of the scholarship.  For enrollment periods beginning after July 1, 2017, this change allows the OKPromise scholarship to be used for any certificate program at a career technology center that qualifies for federal financial aid.  This change is consistent with other state and federal financial aid policy.
*       Aligning scholarship retention requirements with college degree-completion standards:  To maximize college degree-completion, the scholarship retention requirements will be aligned with the college or university's degree-completion standards.  This change becomes effective July 1, 2017.
The bill also contains several important reforms to help ensure that the scholarship expenditures are effective and efficient.
*       Beginning in 2018-19, the OKPromise scholarship will no longer pay for zero-credit college remedial courses:  Many colleges are in the process of reforming remediation to provide supplemental academic support within credit-earning courses.  In addition, many high school seniors will soon have access to College Career Math Ready courses that are designed to address math remediation needs during the student's senior year of high school.
*       Beginning in 2018-19, the second family income check at $100,000 will be applied every year in college:  Currently, the second income check at $100,000 is conducted only one time when the student starts college.  Under the change, a student will not be eligible for the scholarship in any year that their family income exceeds $100,000.
*       Cap the number of credit hours paid by the scholarship in college:  The bill requires the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education to establish a maximum limit on the number of credit hours for which the scholarship will pay during the student's five years of scholarship eligibility.  This limit has not been set yet, but will likely become effective for students entering college in fall 2018.

Bryce Fair
Associate Vice Chancellor for Scholarships & Grants
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education
P.O. Box 108850
Oklahoma City, OK 73101-8850
Phone: 405-225-9162
Email: bfair at osrhe.edu<mailto:bfair at osrhe.edu>
Fax:  405-225-9230

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