Bill seeks to let dependents use Guard tuition aid, expands graduate benefits

A legislative committee heard testimony on House Bill 2185, a proposal to expand state education assistance tied to the Kansas National Guard.

Tamara, the committee reviser, told members the bill would amend the Kansas National Guard Educational Assistance Act to permit dependents of Guard members to receive undergraduate tuition assistance when the sponsoring Guard member elects to sponsor a dependent. Dependents would be required to hold a high school diploma or equivalency, be enrolled at a Kansas postsecondary institution, not hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, and complete the Kansas student aid application. The reviser said assistance for dependents would be made available only after Guard members’ benefits have been funded.

The bill would also expand the Emerge (Educational Masters for Enhanced Readiness and Global Excellence) program beyond master’s degrees to include professional and doctorate degree programs. The reviser said participants in those programs would be required to serve 72 months in good standing in the National Guard after completing their degree and maintain a minimum 3.0 grade-point average to remain eligible. The bill’s stated effective date is July 1 upon publication in the statute book, and the reviser noted it had passed the House on a vote of 112 to 6.

Lieutenant Colonel Keith Marshall of the Kansas Adjutant General’s Department said the changes are intended to improve recruitment and retention and to fill long-standing vacancies in specialized career fields. Marshall described a practical recruiting use: bringing students into the Guard in lower-level roles and using the expanded Emerge program to fund advanced professional schooling that enables later commissioning. “We ... we can bring you in as an enlisted member and then pay for your school via the Emerge program if we pass this bill,” he said, explaining the approach the Guard uses with professional-degree candidates.

Elaine Frisbie, vice president for finance and administration at the Kansas Board of Regents, said the Board administers the programs for students at all 32 public institutions as well as participating private nonprofit schools and that funding is paid to institutions, not to students. Frisbie told the committee the office administers the aid with existing appropriations and would absorb administrative work required for the dependent piece; she said the board currently has about $5,400,000 available to fund the Guard tuition assistance program.

Marshall and Frisbie both said program eligibility and verification would rely on the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, commonly known as DEERS, which the Adjutant General—s office checks before forwarding student information to the Board of Regents.

Marshall emphasized the proposal is intended as a policy update rather than a request for new appropriations. The reviser and regents staff said dependents could receive assistance only after eligible Guard members are funded at 100 percent under the tuition assistance program.

Committee members asked technical questions on definitions and on how the service-commitment provisions would be enforced for members who cannot meet the committed service time; the reviser pointed to statutory language addressing failure to meet service obligations. No opponents appeared at the hearing.