SB 347

Abstract

Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program; work group to evaluate and make recommendations on improving long-term viability; report. Directs the Secretary of Finance, in collaboration with the Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs and the Secretary of Education, to convene a stakeholder work group for the purpose of evaluating the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program and making recommendations on legislative actions and budgetary modifications that could improve the stability, strength, and long-term viability of the Program. The bill requires the Secretary of Finance to submit the work group's recommendations to the Governor and the Chairs of the House Committee on Education and the Senate Committee on Education and Health by November 1, 2024.

Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program. Provides that the stepchild of a living veteran or military service member, as described in the bill, is eligible to receive a tuition and fee waiver under the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program if such living veteran or military service member claimed such stepchild on his tax return for at least five years prior to the date on which the admission application was submitted. The bill reduces the scope of the Program's applicability by providing that an admitted qualified survivor or dependent is only eligible for a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees (i) for an undergraduate program at any public institution of higher education and (ii) up to the amount necessary to pay for the last-dollar cost of the tuition and mandatory fees after all other federal and state financial aid to which such qualified survivor or dependent is entitled are utilized. Current law does not limit eligibility for a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees to undergraduate programs and does not require such waiver to be limited any tuition and mandatory fees remaining after all other federal and state financial aid to which the qualified survivor or dependent is entitled are utilized. The bill also provides that a qualified survivor or dependent, in order to be eligible for a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees, must (a) complete the federal Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) each year for which he seeks to receive a waiver and (b) maintain satisfactory academic progress pursuant to 20 U.S.C. § 1091(c). Finally, the bill exempts from the requirement limiting the receipt and use of such waivers to undergraduate programs any individual who qualified for a waiver of tuition and mandatory fees under the Program prior to the provisions of the bill going into effect and is currently enrolled in a public institution of higher education or Eastern Virginia Medical School.