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Stosch
and Callahan Announce Community College Transfer
Grant Program
Senate
Majority Leader, House Appropriations Chair to
Sponsor Legislation Establishing Grants
Virginia
Senate Majority Leader Walter A. Stosch (R- Henrico)
and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Vincent
F. Callahan, Jr. (R-Fairfax) have announced they
will be sponsoring legislation in the 2007 General
Assembly Session to create the Virginia Community
College Transfer Grant Program.
The
legislation is intended to address the dual
challenges of accessibility and affordability of
obtaining the four year degree currently confronting
Virginia families. Current estimates indicate that
enrollment levels at four-year and two-year
institutions in Virginia will increase between 21%
and 25% by Fiscal Year 2012. Senator Stosch and
Delegate Callahan previously co-chaired a study
examining issues related to enrollment growth and
increased costs of higher education.
Program
Enhances Cooperative Relationship Within Higher
Education
If
enacted, the legislation would provide higher
education grants to Virginia residents who have
successfully completed an acceptable associate degree
program at a Virginia community college under the new
dual enrollment program and have been admitted to an
accredited nonprofit public or private institution of
higher education in the Commonwealth. As introduced,
the bill would require recipients of the grants to
meet both scholastic and financial criteria.
“There
has been a healthy, growing awareness of the
importance of higher education to the future of both
the Commonwealth and her citizens,” noted Senator
Stosch. “I am convinced that for the system needed
to drive Virginia’s economic engine to be
successful it must be accessible and affordable for
all. That will require extraordinary cooperation
between the community college system, and our
four-year institutions, public and private. This
measure is one more step down that path.”
“Increased
access to higher education is critical to
Virginia’s economic vitality,” Chairman Callahan
remarked. “By addressing the key challenges of
accessibility and affordability, we are ensuring the
wellbeing of future generations.”
“Dr.
Glenn DuBois, Virginia Community Colleges Chancellor,
commented, “First, let me thank Delegate Callahan
and Senator Stosch for their leadership in advancing
this important legislation that, if enacted, will
lower the cost of a college education for Virginia
families. We’re at an age where all people,
particularly our young, must pursue post-secondary
education. This legislation makes that pursuit much
more attractive and much more affordable.”
How
the Legislation Works
It
establishes the Community College Transfer Grant
Program for the purpose of providing higher education
grants to domiciles of Virginia who have successfully
completed an acceptable associate degree program at a
Virginia community college and have been admitted to
an accredited nonprofit public or private institution
of higher education in the Commonwealth. The State
Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) must
promulgate necessary and appropriate regulations for
its administration.
To
be eligible to receive a grant, the student must: (i)
have maintained a cumulative grade point average of
at least 3.0 on a scale of 4.0 or its equivalent
while enrolled in an associate degree program at a
Virginia community college, (ii) have applied for
financial aid, and (iii) have financial need, defined
by having a family income of equal to or less than
150% of Virginia median family income, or 150% of the
median family income of their home locality,
whichever is greater.
The
amount of the award will be based on either the
difference between the cost of tuition paid by the
recipient at a Virginia community college and the
cost of such tuition at the public four-year
institution of higher education in which the student
has been enrolled, or in the case of transfer to a
private four-year college or university, the
difference between the cost of tuition paid by the
recipient at a Virginia community college and the
average cost of such tuition at a Virginia public
four-year institution of higher education.
Measure
Garners Additional Support
In
additional to Dr. DuBois, lending their support at
the news conference today were Robert B. Lambeth,
Jr., President of the Council of Independent Colleges
in Virginia and Kelly Porell, Executive Director or
Virginia21, a statewide advocacy organization of
college students.
Lambeth
noted that private colleges have excess capacity and
will be eager to participate in the program. Porell
stated her group will be lobbying lawmakers on behalf
of the measure.
The
Background
SJR74
established in 2004 and co-chaired by Sen. Stosch and
Del. Callahan examined the challenges in the
accessibility and affordability of higher education
in the coming years. Among the findings were:
- By FY 2012, the number of Virginians enrolled at
a public college or university in the Commonwealth
will increase from 295,000 to 357,000 – an
increase of 21 percent
- Although growth will occur within both the
four-year and two-year sectors, three-fourths of
the growth – or 40,000 students – are expected
to enroll at Virginia’s community colleges. If
those projections are realized, in-state
enrollments within the Virginia Community College
System (VCCS) will increase by over 25 percent by
FY 2012.
- Although higher education plays an increasingly
important role in the economic development and
competitiveness of the Commonwealth, growing
segments of Virginia’s population are unprepared
to take advantage of college opportunities
- While public four-year institutions have
indicated a willingness and ability to accommodate
the projected enrollment growth, the available
space may not be aligned with student preference
- Virginia’s private institutions have indicated
an ability and desire to increase enrollments by
as much as 11,000 students over the next six
years.
The
2006 General Assembly passed SB 538 which requires
all four-year public institutions of higher education
to develop articulation, transfer, and dual
enrollment and admissions agreements, including dual
admissions programs for qualified students to be
simultaneously accepted by a community college and,
contingent upon the successful completion of an
acceptable associate degree program from the
community college, by the four-year public
institution of higher education.
The
Stosch – Callahan Community College Transfer Grant
Program builds on this foundation and provides the
financial reward necessary for many Virginians to
take advantage of this new path to a four–year
degree.
-- December 13, 2006
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