HB 7161 — AN ACT ESTABLISHING FINISH LINE GRANTS.

General Assembly SubstituteRaised Bill No.

7161 January Session, 2019 ANLCO ACTNo. ESTABLISHING FINISH LINE GRANTS.

4331 Referred to Committee on HIGHER EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT ADVANCEMENT Introduced by:

(HED) AN ACT ESTABLISHING FINISH LINE GRANTS.

(4) "Qualifying student" means any person who (A) is a full-time undergraduate student enrolled at a public institution of higher education, (B) is classified as an in-state student pursuant to section 10a-29 of the general statutes, (C) possesses an undergraduate college cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5 and has earned half of the credit hours required for completion of an associate or bachelor's LCO \\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2019HB-07161-R011 of 3 HB.docx Substitute Bill No.

71614331 degree,1 (D)of 3 Raised Bill No.7161 education, (B) is classified as an in-state student pursuant to section 10a-29 of the general statutes, (C) possesses an undergraduate college cumulative grade point average of at least 2.5 and has completedearned half of the Freecredit Applicationhours required for Federalcompletion Studentof Aidan associate or anbachelor's institutionallydegree, accepted(D) financialhas aidcompleted application,the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, (E) has an expected family contribution for educational costs, as computed from the student's Free Application for Federal Student AidAid, or institutionally accepted financial aid application, of seven thousand five hundred dollars or less, and (F) has accepted all available financial aid;

(b) BeforeOn or before the start of the fall semester of 2020,2019, the state, acting through the Office of Higher Education, shall establish the Finish Line Grant program to annually make awards to qualifying students for eligible institutional costs.

(c) BeforeOn or before the start of the fall semester of 2020,2019, and each semester thereafter, each public institution of higher education shall conduct a financial and academic audit to determine the number of qualifying students enrolled at the institution and the amount of the award to be made to each qualifying student under this section.

A public institution of higher education shall not use an award to supplant any state or institutional aid otherwise available to a qualifyingLCO student.No.

The4331 amount of the annual appropriation to be allocated to each public institution of higher education shall be the sum of all awards made to LCO {\\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2019HB-07161- 2 of 3 R01-HB.docxRaised } Substitute Bill No.

7161 qualifying studentsstudent. enrolled at the public institution of higher education during each semester of the prior academic year.

The amount of the annual appropriation to be allocated to each public institution of higher education shall be the sum of all awards made to qualifying students enrolled at the public institution of higher education during each semester of the prior academic year.

(e) Not later than January 1, 2021,2020, and annually thereafter, the Office of Higher Education shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher education and employment advancement and appropriations on the Finish Line Grant program.

Section 1 July 1, 2019 New section HEDStatement Jointof FavorablePurpose: Subst.

LCOTo {\\PRDFS1\HCOUSERS\BARRYJN\WS\2019HB-071613allow undergraduate students at public institutions of 3higher R01-HB.docxeducation }to finish earning their degrees without student loans.

except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.] LCO No.

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