SB149: SB149 Tuition Equalization Grants at Private Colleges and Universities; definition of approved school; revise

Georgia's Tuition Equalization Grant program helps students at certain private colleges and universities pay tuition. To qualify, a proprietary (for-profit) institution must meet a list of conditions, including how long it has operated in Georgia and by when it met the program's standards. This bill rewrites part of that definition (O.C.G.A. § 20-3-411). Instead of requiring a school to have existed in Georgia for at least ten years, the bill requires the school to have been located in the state since on or before January 1, 2021. It also moves the deadline for meeting all requirements from January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2021. The bill also restates the list of factors the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission can weigh when approving a school, such as course offerings, instructional quality, student placement, and financial and physical resources. Conflicting laws are repealed.

• Replaces the ten-year existence requirement for qualifying proprietary colleges with a fixed cutoff: the school must have been located in Georgia on or before January 1, 2021.
• Moves the deadline for meeting all eligibility requirements from January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2021, making more recently established schools potentially eligible.
• Restates the list of factors the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission may consider when approving a school for grant funds, including course study, academic quality, and financial resources.
• Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with these updated eligibility terms.

Private, for-profit (proprietary) colleges and universities in Georgia seeking approval to receive tuition equalization grant funds, the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission that reviews them, and students attending those schools who rely on the grants to help pay tuition.

By updating the eligibility dates, the bill could let newer proprietary colleges that were established after 2011 but before 2021 qualify for state tuition equalization grants, potentially expanding which schools' students can receive this state financial aid.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-3-411(2)(B)(i), which defines an 'approved school' eligible for tuition equalization grant funds.
• Changes the existence requirement from 'at least ten years' in Georgia to being located in the state 'since on or before January 1, 2021.'
• Moves the compliance deadline for meeting all listed requirements from January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2021.
• Retains other existing requirements, such as being a baccalaureate degree-granting institution accredited as a Level VI institution by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
• Section 2 repeals any conflicting state laws.

1. 2025-04-30Effective Date 2025-07-01
2. 2025-04-30Act 21
3. 2025-04-30Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2025-04-07Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2025-03-25House Passed/Adopted (House)
6. 2025-03-25House Third Readers (House)
7. 2025-03-18House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
8. 2025-03-11House Second Readers (House)

• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)Primary sponsor
• Clint Dixon (R, SD-045)
• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Houston Gaines (R, HD-120)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2025

   50 yea, 4 nay (1 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage: Senate Vote #180

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 25, 2025

   162 yea, 2 nay (8 not voting, 8 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #304

• tuition equalization grants
• private colleges
• higher education funding
• college eligibility rules