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2023 SESSION

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23102479D
SENATE BILL NO. 1130 Offered January 11, 2023 Prefiled January 10, 2023 A BILL to amend and reenact § 23.1-2911.2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to institutions of higher education; Get Skilled, Get a Job, Get Ahead Program; qualifying degree and certificate programs. ---------- Patrons-- Hashmi, Boysko and McClellan; Delegate: Kory ---------- Referred to Committee on Education and Health ----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 23.1-2911.2 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 23.1-2911.2. Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back Get Ahead Fund and Program.

A. As used in this section, "high-demand field" means a discipline or field in which there is a shortage of skilled workers to fill current and anticipated additional job vacancies.

B. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back Get Ahead (G3) Fund, referred to in this section as "the Fund." The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. All gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds received on its behalf shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for the purposes of providing financial assistance pursuant to subsection C. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the Chancellor and the president of each participating baccalaureate public institution of higher education.

C. The System shall establish the Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back Get Ahead Program (G3 Program) for the purpose of providing financial assistance from the Fund to low-income and middle-income Virginia students who are enrolled in an educational program at an associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education that leads to an occupation in a high-demand field.

D. The Virginia Board of Workforce Development, in consultation with the System, in collaboration with the Council, each participating comprehensive community college and baccalaureate public institution of higher education, and the staffs of the House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, Virginia Office of Education Economics (VOEE), shall select the degree and certificate programs that are eligible for financial assistance under the G3 Program, including any associate degree program transferable for course credit, as defined by Council policy, at a baccalaureate public institution of higher education that the System, the Council, and the VOEE identify as eligible for financial assistance under the G3 program. The selection of degree and certificate programs that are eligible may occur at a statewide level or an institutional level, based on the workforce needs as recommended by the VOEE. The curricular programs selected as eligible for the G3 Program shall be implemented no sooner than 12 months following their selection and with the full agreement of the System, the Council, VOEE, and the participating institutions. The System and the president of each participating baccalaureate public institution of higher education shall make recommendations report any additions or changes to the degree and certificate programs that are eligible for financial assistance under the G3 Program to the Governor and General Assembly, no later than December 1 of each year, for additions or other changes to the high-demand fields that qualify for financial assistance under the G3 Program.

E. In order to be eligible for financial assistance under the G3 Program, an applicant shall (i) report a total household income that is not more than 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; (ii) be enrolled or accepted for enrollment, (a) as a full-time student or a part-time student, for a minimum of six credit hours per semester, in a credit-bearing educational program or (b) in a noncredit educational program, at an associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education that leads to an occupation in a high-demand field; and (iii) have completed and submitted applications for any other federal or state student financial aid program for which the applicant may be eligible.

F. In order to remain eligible for financial assistance under the G3 Program, a participating student shall (i) meet standards for satisfactory academic progress and maintain the required grade point average established in Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended; (ii) demonstrate reasonable progress to complete his specific program of study to earn an associate degree in no more than three years; and (iii) not exceed 150 percent of the required credits for the relevant certificate or degree.

G. Any student receiving financial assistance under the G3 program for any transferable degree program shall remain eligible to receive such financial assistance at the four-year baccalaureate public institution of higher education into which he transfers if such student (i) is enrolled in a transfer program identified as eligible for financial assistance under the G3 program pursuant to subsection D, (ii) has completed all course requirements for such transfer program, and (iii) is a graduate of a comprehensive community college in the System with an Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, or a transferable Associate of Applied Science degree.

H. Each financial assistance award under the G3 Program shall consist of (i) a grant up to the amount necessary to pay for the last-dollar cost of the institution's tuition and mandatory fees and a textbook stipend after all other federal and state financial aid to which the student is entitled is taken into account and (ii) for any student who is enrolled full time and receives a full Federal Pell Grant, a student-support incentive grant as provided in the general appropriation act. Each student-support incentive grant shall be disbursed in two equal payments, the first of which shall occur after the census date for the enrollment period is reached and the second of which shall occur at the end of the academic term for which the student receives the grant, provided, however, that no student who withdraws from or otherwise stops attending the institution during such term shall receive additional payments and that each such student shall be subject to repayment of the funds already received in accordance with state financial aid policies.

H. I. Each eligible institution that participates in the G3 Program shall provide academic and career advising to all students enrolled in the G3 Program.

I. J. No later than September 1 of each year, each participating baccalaureate public institution of higher education and each associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education shall submit to the Council and the System a report with data from the previous fiscal year on student participation in and completion of the G3 Program, including (i) data on student enrollment, student retention rates between academic terms and years, and student wages, including median wages prior to enrollment and one year after completion of a credential or degree and wage rates of students who have not enrolled in over a year and did not complete a credential, and (ii) a comparison of job demand and completion rates. Such data shall be disaggregated by program of study and student income level at the start of participation in the G3 program. The Council and System shall work collaboratively to compile the data provided by each associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education and annually report such data, in the aggregate and by program of study, institution, and student income level at the start of participation in the G3 program, to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations, the House Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health.

J. K. No later than September 1 of each year, each participating baccalaureate public institution of higher education and each associate-degree-granting public institution of higher education that participates in the G3 Program shall adopt and amend, as necessary, policies and procedures to ensure that student participation in the G3 Program does not cause financial assistance awards to exceed funds available for such purpose.