The bill would require the Higher Education Coordinating Board to establish and administer a competitive grant program under which the Board would award grants to eligible regional postsecondary education collaboratives to improve postsecondary educational outcomes for low-income students in the state. The bill would define regional postsecondary education collaboratives as partnerships or other collaborations between stakeholders in education, such as school districts, institutions of higher education, employers, and communities, to improve postsecondary educational outcomes in a region of the state. Under provisions of the bill, to be eligible to receive a grant, a regional postsecondary education collaborative would be required to meet certain criteria, including raising a minimum amount of funding from other sources for the collaborative's costs and providing a scholarship to students in an amount that, when combined with other federal or state student financial assistance for which the student is eligible, covers the full cost of tuition and required fees for two academic years at a public junior college.
The Higher Education Coordinating Board is unable to estimate the amount needed to fund the grants. The agency does not know how many regional postsecondary education collaboratives would apply for and be found eligible to participate in the program, how much each collaborative would raise from other sources, and how many students would enroll in higher education with the collaborative's assistance. As a result, the fiscal implication of this bill cannot be determined.
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.