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Forbes
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Forbes
New Missouri Law Provides Free Tuition For Career, Technical Education
The Missouri General Assembly has passed a bill, recently signed into law by the governor, that will ... More pay eligible high school graduates' tuition for career and technical certificate programs. Missouri has passed a new law that authorizes the payment of tuition for high school graduates wanting to pursue career and technical education rather than attend college. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed Senate Bill 150, a multi-component higher education bill that contains the new provision, on July 9. The bill establishing the "Career-Tech Certificate (CTC) Program" passed both chambers of the Missouri General Assembly with strong bipartisan support. The idea to cover career-certificate tuition along with required fees and the cost of books was modeled on Missouri's highly popular A+ Program, which pays for two years of public community college for students pursuing associate's degrees. 'This will increase (the workforce) astronomically,' said state Rep. Ann Kelley, a Republican from Lamar who filed the bill in the Missouri House of Representatives. 'And it's great for the kids who are in those career tech programs. It gives them another avenue to make themselves better.' The eligibility requirements follow those established for the A+ Program. To qualify, students must graduate high school with at least a 2.5 GPA, maintain a 95% or higher attendance rate, complete 50 hours of unpaid tutoring and demonstrate proficiency in the Algebra I end-of-course exam. According to the law, which was sponsored by Senator Jill Carter (R-Granby) in the Missouri Senate, the new tuition benefit becomes effective for the 2026-2027 school year. 'Currently a student who wants to obtain a certificate or license right out of high school… must pay for these out of pocket because the courses are too short to qualify for the A+ reimbursement program and are not Pell eligible,' Kelley said in a committee hearing on the bill in February. 'These students are typically ones who are not interested in going to a two-year or four-year school.' Eligible programs for the tuition benefit are those where the required length for completion does not exceed 60 credit hours or their equivalent and 'results in the award of a non-graduate-level certificate or other industry-recognized credential.' Examples of such certificate programs listed in the new law are: The bill also establishes a fund managed by the State Treasurer's Office to pay for the student grants. Funding would need to be appropriated annually by the Missouri General assembly, but the fund will also accept donations. The state has estimated that the new program will cost up to $2.1 million in Fiscal Year 2027 and $3.3 million the following year. The legislation had widespread support from groups such as the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Missouri National Education Association. Missouri Chamber of Commerce Manager of Governmental Affairs Cade Tremain said the bill would 'strengthen the public workforce, as well as strengthen the existing programs we already have.' Governor Kehoe had also expressed support for career and technical education in his January State of the State speech, in which he called for enhancements to Missouri's career and technical education programs.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Advocates push Senate to drop changes in 90/10 rule for vets benefits
A coalition of 31 veterans groups is urging Senate leaders to strip a provision from the Republican budget reconciliation package which they say will allow for-profit schools to once again take advantage of student veterans. In a letter sent Wednesday evening to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the groups noted that the provision concerning a repeal of the 90/10 rule could also cost the federal government as much as $1.6 billion, making the move concerning on a fiscal level as well as a ethical one. 'Our organizations spent a decade with bipartisan lawmakers to solve this problem,' the letter stated. 'That progress shouldn't be undone.' GOP bill repeals rule on how for-profit schools count vets benefits Veterans groups in recent weeks unsuccessfully lobbied House leaders to drop the provision before passing the reconciliation bill. The new effort includes a broader array of groups including Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Veterans Education Success. At issue is the 90/10 rule, which covers how colleges must account for how much federal financial aid funding they take in. By law, colleges and universities must have at least 10% of their revenues derived from non-federal sources in order to qualify for federal benefits. The idea behind the regulation is to ensure that for-profit institutions aren't funded solely by federal monies, but instead also include significant investment by students interested in furthering their education. But for years, GI Bill benefits and Defense Department Tuition Assistance programs were not counted as federal dollars for the 90/10 calculation, despite being taxpayer-funded benefits. As a result, schools could target veterans or troops receiving federal education payouts to boost their government funding well beyond the 90% cap. Four years ago, as part of an emergency funding bill during the Covid-19 pandemic, lawmakers closed that loophole, reclassifying the GI Bill money and other military education programs as federal funding in the 90/10 calculations. But the Republican-backed reconciliation bill — which includes changes to tax rates, Medicaid spending and a host of other federal program reforms — would revert to the pre-2021 rules on college accounting for federal aid. GOP committee members argued the change was needed to reduce regulations and promote more affordable options for student veterans. Officials from the Congressional Budget Office estimated the 90/10 reversal could cost as much as $1.6 billion over the next decade. 'Congress designed the [rule] to be a market viability test to protect taxpayers from artificially propping up a failing college of such low quality that no employer or private-paying student is willing to pay for it,' the letter stated. 'We urge you to vote 'no' on repealing the common-sense rule.' Democratic lawmakers have been pointing to the rule change as one of many flaws in the Republican backed bill, which passed only party lines in the House. Senate lawmakers are expected to take up work on the massive budget measure when they return from recess next week. Chamber leaders have said they hope for a floor vote on the bill before the congressional July 4 recess.
