---
title: HB 417. Education; tuition equalization grants at private colleges and universities; revise definition of approved school
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb417
cite_as: HB 417, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb417
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb417.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb417/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70258
date: 2025-02-18
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb417.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 417
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-12
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Houston Gaines
- Bill Hitchens
- Robert Dickey
- Gerald Greene
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB417/2025
upstream_id: 1968142
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- higher education funding
- tuition grants
- private colleges
- college accreditation
---
# HB 417. Education; tuition equalization grants at private colleges and universities; revise definition of approved school
## Text
House Bill 417
By: Representatives Gaines of the 120th, Hitchens of the 161st, Dickey of the 134th, and
Greene of the 154th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 20-3-411 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
definitions regarding tuition equalization grants at private colleges and universities, so as to
revise the definition of approved school; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting
laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 20-3-411 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to definitions
regarding tuition equalization grants at private colleges and universities, is amended by
revising division (2)(B)(i) as follows:
"(B)(i) A qualified proprietary institution of higher education located in this state
which is a baccalaureate degree-granting institution of higher education; which is
accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on
Colleges as a Level VI institution; which is not a Bible school or college (or, at the
graduate level, a school or college of theology or divinity); which admits as regular
students only persons who have a high school diploma, a state approved high school
equivalency (HSE) diploma, or a degree from an accredited postsecondary institution;
whose students are eligible to participate in the federal Pell Grant program; which has
been reviewed and approved for operation and for receipt of tuition equalization grant
funds by the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission; which is
domiciled and incorporated in the State of Georgia; which has been in existence in the
State of Georgia for at least ten years located in this state since on or before January
1, 2021; and which met all of the requirements of this subparagraph by January 1,
2011 2021; provided, however, that the criteria for approval for receipt of tuition
equalization grant funds shall include but not be limited to areas of course study,;
quality of academic instruction,; student placement rate,; research and library sources,
resources; faculty,; support staff,; financial resources,; physical plant facilities
resources, instructional campuses, facilities, or other physical sites; and support and
equipment resources."
SECTION 2.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia House bill would update the eligibility rules for private colleges to qualify for state tuition equalization grants, changing accreditation and history requirements written into state law.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia's tuition equalization grant program helps students at certain approved private colleges and universities pay for school. To qualify, a private, for-profit (proprietary) college must meet a list of requirements written into state law, including how long it has operated in Georgia and what accreditation it holds.
This bill rewrites part of that definition (O.C.G.A. § 20-3-411). It specifies that a qualifying school must be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges as a Level VI institution. It replaces the old rule requiring a school to have existed in Georgia for at least ten years with a new rule requiring the school to have been located in the state since on or before January 1, 2021, and it moves the compliance deadline from January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2021. It also updates the list of factors regulators use to judge instructional quality and resources, adding academic instruction, research and library resources, and campus facilities language.
### What it does
- Requires a qualifying proprietary college to be accredited specifically by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges as a Level VI institution.
- Replaces the old ten-years-of-existence requirement with a new rule requiring the school to have been located in Georgia since on or before January 1, 2021.
- Moves the deadline for meeting all approval requirements from January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2021.
- Updates the review criteria list to reference academic instruction quality, research and library resources, and instructional campuses, facilities, or other physical sites.
### Who it affects
This bill affects proprietary (for-profit) colleges and universities in Georgia that seek approval to receive tuition equalization grant funds, the Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission that reviews and approves them, and students at those schools who rely on the grants to help pay tuition.
### Why it matters
By changing the accreditation standard and shifting the operating-history and compliance deadlines from 2011 to 2021, the bill could change which private colleges qualify as approved schools, affecting which schools' students remain eligible for state tuition equalization grant funding.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 20-3-411(2)(B)(i), the definition of an approved proprietary institution eligible for tuition equalization grant funds.
- Adds a requirement that the school be accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges specifically as a Level VI institution.
- Removes the requirement that a school have existed in Georgia for at least ten years and replaces it with a requirement that it be located in the state since on or before January 1, 2021.
- Changes the compliance deadline for meeting all approval requirements from January 1, 2011 to January 1, 2021.
- Revises the list of review criteria to include academic instruction quality, research and library resources, and instructional campuses, facilities, or other physical sites instead of physical plant facilities resources.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-12)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-18)
- Sponsors: Houston Gaines, Bill Hitchens, Robert Dickey, Gerald Greene
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70258
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb417.md?full=1