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Committee advances bill to remove course-verification requirement from HELP grant
Summary
Committee advanced a technical amendment to the HELP student-aid program that would remove a college-prep curriculum verification requirement; the administering agency said it would ease a substantial verification burden on high-school counselors and likely affect about 20 students per year.
Jennifer, representing the postsecondary financial-assistance board and the state financial-aid office, told the committee the HELP grant pays full tuition and fees for about 4,000 students a year who meet merit and need criteria. "This bill would remove the curriculum requirement," Jennifer said, arguing that more than 98% of Mississippi graduates already complete the college-prep curriculum and that counselors now must manually verify the requirement because the state data system is not available at award time.
Sen. Hobson pressed for numbers; Jennifer estimated "probably 20 students a year" would become newly eligible if the verification requirement were removed. Committee members also asked about fiscal impact and tied funds; Jennifer said the change affects state funds only and "would have virtually no impact on the budget" because most eligible students are already enrolled. The committee moved the bill ahead with a motion of 'title sufficient; do pass' by voice vote. Committee members requested the board provide a breakdown of community-college versus university recipients before the committee leaves.
