ok-983: State Regents for Higher Education — Student Financial Aid and Scholarships

Summary

During the 2024 session, the Oklahoma Legislature approved HB 3792 (now 70 O.S. § 2501) creating the Oklahoma Access and Achievement Program (a copy of HB 3792 is attached). The bill authorizes educational benefits to Oklahoma residents with intellectual disabilities enrolled in comprehensive transition and postsecondary (CTP) programs approved by the U.S. Department of Education in the amount equivalent to resident tuition at institutions in the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education and Oklahoma Career Technology Education institutions. Funding for the program will come from the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Trust Fund funds. HB 3792 also outlines eligibility requirements for the program which include family income limits for students applying to the program, creating levels of income eligibility based on whether the student was adopted while in permanent custody of Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS), court-ordered custody of a licensed private child-placing agency, or federally recognized Indian tribe and based on the age of the student if adopted. Students are eligible for the scholarship if they are within six (6) years of high school graduation, are enrolled in a state-system or career technology CTP program, and the student’s parent(s) federal adjusted gross income does not exceed: • $100,000 per year for parents who did not adopt; • $150,000 per year for parents who adopted the student between the ages of birth and twelve (12) years old while in the permanent custody of OKDHS, court-ordered custody of a licensed private nonprofit child-placing agency, or federally recognized Indian tribe. • $200,000 per year for parents who adopted the student between the ages of thirteen (13) and seventeen (17) years old while in the permanent custody of OKDHS, court-ordered custody of a licensed private nonprofit child-placing agency, or federally recognized Indian tribe. To maintain eligibility in the program students must maintain satisfactory academic progress and they have five (5) years of eligibility beginning their first semester at a postsecondary institution.

The agency’s own summary, as published.