HARTFORD – Today, State Senator Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox voted to pass Senate Bill 5 – An Act Concerning Higher Education Affordability and Accountability. This legislation is a top priority of the Senate Democrats and takes aim at college affordability by ensuring that the state’s Roberta B. Willis scholarship foundation which provides financial relief on a needs-basis for Connecticut students attending four-year colleges and universities in Connecticut, excluding community colleges, functions as intended.
Currently, Roberta B. Willis Scholarships are on average between $4,500 and $5,200. These scholarships are intended to help incentivize Connecticut’s students to stay in-state in their pursuit of higher education.
The program’s funding was supplemented by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars which have expired, and the Appropriations Committee budget included an additional $16.5 million to replenish expiring funds so that no students will lose funding.
A hallmark of the bill is the requirement for the Office of Higher Education to notify institutions by November 1 of each year of the amount of funds allocated to each institution for need-based grants for the following fiscal year. This means that institutions can notify students of their full aid package at the time of admission, which will help students weigh the benefits of enrolling in-state accurately.
With the future of federal funding for financial aid programs in question, this legislation seeks to invest in Connecticut students, schools and our workforce.
Currently, Connecticut’s investment into needs-based scholarships is among the lowest in the country. According to a NASSGAP survey, forty-three other states spend a greater percentage of state funding for higher education on student aid than Connecticut does. Connecticut also loses 40-percent of its young adults to colleges and universities in other states.
“I am here as a state senator, a lawyer and a professor because my father gained access to higher education. He was the first person in his family to get a college education, and that access point has made a difference to our family across continents and generations, and that story rings true for so many American families,” said Sen. Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox. “Higher education trains our future leaders and our society benefits most when we lift up the voices of those who historically have not had a seat at the table. This legislation creates that opportunity and I am proud to vote in favor today.”
Over the last several years Democrat led legislation has expanded access to higher education through debt-free community college, Connecticut Automatic Admission Program (CAAP) and expanding access to lower interest CHESLA loans.
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