House OKs Restoring Scholarship Funds for Tech College Students

Under House Bill 697, full tuition would be covered for any technical college student with a 3.5 GPA or higher.

Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Smyrna, sponsored the bill and called it a “true bipartisan effort.” The House passed it 172-2 and has the support of the governor’s office.

“We have a skills gap. We’ve got students that need to get trained that are having to leave because they can’t afford tuition and we can help with this bill,” said Evans.

Evans hopes the bill will begin making up for the significant cuts made to the HOPE grant in 2011. Since then, technical college enrollment statewide has dropped by roughly 20 percent.

A note, the HOPE grant, which is for technical college students, is different from the HOPE scholarship, which is for students enrolled in four-year colleges.

Evans originally proposed restoring full tuition coverage to HOPE grant recipients, regardless of GPA, but she said the bill is a good compromise and a step in the right direction.

The changes in the bill come at a cost of about $7 million, covered entirely by Lottery funds.