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Kentucky House approves overhaul of tuition-waiver rules after floor fight over FAFSA for senior learners
Summary
The House passed House Bill 497, which standardizes eligibility and reporting for several state postsecondary tuition-waiver programs; debate centered on a new FAFSA requirement for senior learners (Donovan Scholars), with lawmakers split over whether it creates an unnecessary barrier.
FRANKFORT — The Kentucky House on Thursday approved House Bill 497, an overhaul of several postsecondary tuition-waiver programs that standardizes eligibility rules, requires completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid for certain waiver recipients, and sets credit-hour limits for coverage.
Supporters, led on the floor by Representative Spencer, said the committee substitute and floor amendment aim to create consistency across programs that have developed unevenly over time and that applying a uniform process could save universities money while protecting program integrity. "We believe they can save 10 to $12,000,000 a year on this," Spencer said during debate, citing estimates shared with the sponsor.
Opponents pressed that the FAFSA requirement would create a practical and privacy barrier for older learners who participate in the Donovan Scholars program. Representative (Jefferson 35) said the FAFSA poses technology, deadline and data-privacy hurdles for people who enroll as senior learners, calling it "an enormous barrier" and warning it will deter participation at a program celebrating its 50th anniversary. She described seniors’ familiarity with campus life and warned that requiring tax and financial disclosures could undermine participation for many longtime program members.
Other lawmakers described the program's value for intergenerational learning and community engagement and said universities could use savings to bolster counseling and student-support services. The sponsor responded that universities already provide financial-aid assistance and that several technical changes in the substitute — including an explicit 128-credit cap for eligible categories and an eight-hour-per-semester rule for those 65 and older — seek to balance access with administrative consistency.
After floor debate and a roll-call on House Floor Amendment 3, which replaced portions of the bill to clarify credit limits and other details, members voted to pass HB 497 as amended by the committee substitute and floor amendment. The transcript records the adoption as final action; the clerk announced the bill had passed.
The bill moves next to the Senate. The transcript does not provide final budget implementation details, exact statewide fiscal impact beyond the estimates cited on the floor, nor a full roll-call breakdown by name in the passage announcement.
