In-state tuition for military nears approval - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

In-state tuition for military nears approval

In-state tuition rates for service members and their spouses and dependent children are closer to becoming the law of the nation, as part of a sweeping reform of the Higher Education Opportunity Act.

On Thursday, the House passed the compromise version of the law agreed to by House and Senate lawmakers. The Senate is expected to take up the bill by Friday.

The legislation also would set up a scholarship program for family members of troops and veterans; establish support centers to help veterans succeed in college and graduate; and prohibit discrimination against students who serve in the armed forces when they seek to be readmitted after an absence because of military duty.

The legislation would also require public institutions of higher learning to continue to allow in-state rates for family members even if the military sponsor is reassigned to a another state.

Although more states have passed laws over the last few years allowing in-state tuition for service members and their families, a number of states still charge higher out-of-state rates when the service member’s home of record is another state, causing hardship for many military families.

Under the proposed law, the military member must be either a resident of the state, or stationed in the state when the student starts college. The law would take effect at each public institution of higher learning for the first enrollment period that begins after July 1, 2009.

Another provision would establish a scholarship program for spouses or children of service members on active duty, or performing qualifying National Guard duty, during a war or other military operation or national emergency. In addition, spouses or children of service members who died or were disabled as a result of their service in a military operation or national emergency since Sept. 11, 2001 would be eligible.

The scholarships will be based on need, and the maximum amount awarded to a student for a year would be $5,000 or the student’s cost to attend school, whichever is less. The contract for administering the scholarship program would be given to a nonprofit organization with “demonstrated success” in carrying out these activities.

The provisions are part of an overhaul of the Higher Education Opportunity Act, the first reauthorization of the law in 10 years.

Among other things, the legislation aims to make higher education more consumer-friendly by increasing the information available on prices set by colleges and universities. It would require the Department of Education to create a new user-friendly Web site with information on college prices and the factors driving tuition increases. Colleges with the highest increases in tuition prices would be required to report their reasons.