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2021 SESSION

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HB 1980 Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program; established, report.

Introduced by: David A. Reid | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED HOUSE:

Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program established. Establishes the Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship and Memorial Program, whereby Longwood University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Military Institute, and The College of William and Mary in Virginia, starting in the 2022-2023 academic year and with any source of funds other than state funds or tuition or fee increases, are required to annually (i) identify and memorialize, to the extent possible, all enslaved individuals who labored on former and current institutionally controlled grounds and property and (ii) provide a tangible benefit such as a college scholarship or community-based economic development program for individuals or specific communities with a demonstrated historic connection to slavery that will empower families to be lifted out of the cycle of poverty.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship Program established. Establishes the Enslaved Ancestors College Access Scholarship Program, whereby Longwood University, the University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Military Institute, and The College of William and Mary in Virginia are required to annually provide, starting in the 2022-2023 academic year and with any source of funds other than state funds or tuition or fee increases, to at least one African American Virginia student who was born in the Commonwealth and has a total household income that is not more than 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines a renewable scholarship in an amount sufficient to cover tuition, mandatory fees, room and board, books and other educational supplies, and tutoring at the institution. The bill requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to collaborate with such institutions to establish guidelines for the implementation of the Program and to annually collect information on the implementation of the Program from such institutions and report such information to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, and the Virginia African American Advisory Board.