Sec 15-1809. Tuition waiver for persons formerly in foster care; pilot program; report; definition

A. The Arizona board of regents shall develop a five-year pilot program to provide a tuition waiver scholarship at any university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents and each community college district shall develop a five-year pilot program to provide a tuition waiver scholarship at any community college in that community college district to any person who meets each of the following conditions:

1. Resides in this state.

2. Either:

(a) Is currently in foster care and is at least sixteen years of age.

(b) Was in foster care when the person was at least sixteen years of age.

(c) Was adopted from foster care and the adoption was finalized after the person was sixteen years of age.

3. Is a United States citizen or is a noncitizen who is lawfully present in this country.

4. Has total personal assets, not including scholarships or grants received by the person, that are worth less than ten thousand dollars.

5. Is under twenty-three years of age.

6. Is accepted into or enrolled in a degree, certificate or other accredited program at a university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents or a community college under the jurisdiction of a community college district. The person must demonstrate continuous progress toward a degree or certificate in order to remain eligible for a tuition waiver scholarship issued.

7. Has completed and submitted to the United States department of education a free application for federal student aid before each year in which the person receives a tuition waiver scholarship pursuant to this section.

8. After the first academic year in which the person receives a tuition waiver scholarship pursuant to this section, annually completes at least thirty hours of volunteer service during the previous academic year.

9. Remains in good standing with the policies established by the university or community college at which the person is enrolled.

B. A tuition waiver scholarship provided pursuant to this section shall be reduced by the amount of any other federal aid scholarships or public grants and any other public aid received by that person from or through the university or community college at which the person is enrolled, except that a tuition waiver scholarship shall not be reduced by the amount of federal grants received by the person from the department of child safety under the Arizona education and training voucher program.

C. The auditor general shall review the pilot programs and on or before June 30, 2017 shall submit a report to the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives that evaluates the effectiveness of the pilot programs. The auditor general shall provide a copy of this report to the secretary of state.

D. If the pilot program is terminated before a tuition waiver scholarship recipient obtains an associate's degree, a baccalaureate degree or a certificate and before the recipient reaches twenty-three years of age, that person shall continue to be awarded a tuition waiver scholarship until the person reaches twenty-three years of age or obtains a baccalaureate degree, an associate's degree or a certificate, whichever occurs first, if the person continues to meet the scholarship criteria prescribed by this section.

E. For the purposes of this section, "tuition" means tuition and mandatory fees charged by the university or community college.

(Rpld. 7/1/18)