MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2022 Regular Session
To: Education; Appropriations
By: Representatives Bennett, Creekmore IV, Mickens, Crawford, Crudup, Summers, McLean, Porter, Powell, Williamson, McCarty, Aguirre, Anderson (110th), Anderson (122nd), Anthony, Arnold, Bailey, Bain, Banks, Barnett, Barton, Beckett, Bell (21st), Bell (65th), Blackmon, Bomgar, Bounds, Boyd, Brown (70th), Burnett, Busby, Byrd, Calvert, Carpenter, Clark, Clarke, Cockerham, Criswell, Currie, Darnell, Denton, Deweese, Eubanks, Eure, Evans (45th), Evans (91st), Faulkner, Felsher, Ford (54th), Ford (73rd), Foster, Gibbs (36th), Gibbs (72nd), Goodin, Guice, Gunn, Hale, Haney, Harness, Hines, Hobgood-Wilkes, Holloway, Hood, Horan, Horne, Huddleston, Jackson, Johnson, Karriem, Kinkade, Ladner, Lamar, Lancaster, Mangold, Massengill, McCray, McGee, McKnight, McLeod, Miles, Mims, Morgan, Newman, Oliver, Osborne, Owen, Paden, Patterson, Pigott, Read, Reynolds, Roberson, Robinson, Rosebud, Rushing, Sanders, Sanford, Scoggin, Scott, Shanks, Smith, Stamps, Steverson, Straughter, Taylor, Thompson, Tubb, Tullos, Turner, Walker, Wallace, Watson, Weathersby, White, Williams-Barnes, Wright, Yancey, Yates, Young, Zuber
AN ACT TO CREATE THE "FOSTERING ACCESS AND INSPIRING TRUE HOPE (FAITH) SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM ACT," TO PROVIDE TUITION ASSISTANCE FOR ATTENDANCE AT APPROVED POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OR PUBLIC WORKFORCE TRAINING PROGRAMS TO ELIGIBLE STUDENTS WHO WERE ENTERED INTO FOSTER CARE ON OR AFTER REACHING 14 YEARS OF AGE AND WHO HAVE NOT REACHED 26 YEARS OF AGE OR LIVED AT A QUALIFIED RESIDENTIAL CHILD CARE AGENCY AFTER REACHING 14 YEARS OF AGE AND WHO HAVE NOT REACHED 26 YEARS OF AGE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE MISSISSIPPI POSTSECONDARY STUDENT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE BOARD SHALL ADMINISTER THE PROGRAM; TO PRESCRIBE THE CRITERIA FOR INITIAL AND CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY FOR RECEIPT OF A FAITH SCHOLARSHIP; TO PROVIDE THAT THE NUMBER OF SCHOLARSHIPS ALLOWED SHALL BE LIMITED TO 150 NEW RECIPIENTS PER YEAR UNTIL THE PROGRAM REACHES A MAXIMUM OF 900 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS; TO REQUIRE APPROVED POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION TO PROVIDE SUMMER AND HOLIDAY ROOM AND BOARD ACCOMMODATION FOR RECIPIENTS OF FAITH SCHOLARSHIPS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Fostering Access and Inspiring True Hope (FAITH) Scholarship Program Act."
SECTION 2. As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed in this section, unless context of use clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Approved postsecondary educational institution" means any public state-supported institution of higher learning, community or junior college, or public workforce training facility. The term does not include private or proprietary colleges or universities.
(b) "Board" means the Mississippi Postsecondary Student Financial Assistance Board established in Section 37-106-9, which is authorized and empowered to administer the provisions of Chapter 106, Title 37, Mississippi Code of 1972.
(c) "Director" means the individual designated by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning to administer the provisions of the various financial assistance programs by promulgating the necessary rules and regulations for their effective administration.
(d) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services.
(e) "Eligible student" means:
(i) Any individual, currently or formerly in the state foster care program, who entered such program after attaining the age of fourteen (14) years but has not reached twenty-six (26) years of age, and who meets all initial or continuing eligibility requirements of the scholarship and enrolls in an approved postsecondary educational institution; or
(ii) Any individual who is not currently or formerly in the state foster care program, who was placed by their parent or parents, guardian, court of competent jurisdiction, or other person or individual or entity acting in the best interest of the individual in a qualified residential child care agency before reaching their twenty-sixth birthday and who did reside in such a residential child care agency after their fourteenth birthday, and who meets all initial or continuing eligibility requirements of the scholarship and enrolls in an approved postsecondary educational institution; or
(iii) Any individual adopted from the state foster care program, or adopted while residing at a residential child care agency as described in subsection (2) at the age of fourteen (14) and who has not reached twenty-six (26) years of age.
(f) "Qualified residential child care agency" means an entity that provides a home for children and is licensed by the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services.
(g) "Scholarship" means the Fostering Access and Inspiring True Hope (FAITH) Scholarship.
SECTION 3. (1) The Mississippi Postsecondary Student Financial Assistance Board, with the assistance of the Mississippi Department Child Protection Services shall develop and administer the Fostering Access and Inspiring True Hope (FAITH) scholarship program for eligible students. Commencing with the 2023-2024 academic year, the program, on behalf of participants, shall do either of the following:
(a) Pay for tuition and required fees at any public two-year or four-year approved postsecondary educational institution in the state; or
(b) Pay required fees for job training courses or skill certifications that are offered by any public two-year or four-year approved postsecondary educational institution in the state, or other publicly funded workforce training programs in the state which are not considered an associate's degree program, provided that the courses or certifications are first approved by the board.
(2) Payments of tuition and required fees are considered program scholarships.
SECTION 4. The scholarship program shall include a mentor service administered by the department as a support system for participants of the Fostering Access and Inspiring True Hope (FAITH) scholarship program. This service shall include mentors who shall be compensated by the department, as employees or contractors, to help participants adapt to independent living, academics and other college or university activities.
SECTION 5. (1) Appropriations for the program shall be used by the board on behalf of participants in each fiscal year to pay public two-year and four-year approved postsecondary educational institutions or other publicly funded workforce training programs in the state for benefits extended to eligible students by the Fostering Access and Inspiring True Hope (FAITH) scholarship program. The department may not spend appropriations for the program for purposes other than those listed in this section. Any monies appropriated to the department for FAITH scholarships that are unspent at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, but shall be carried over and be available for expenditure by the board in the succeeding fiscal year, subject to appropriation therefor by the Legislature. The board shall develop rules for ensuring that expenses of the FAITH scholarship program in a fiscal year do not exceed funding for the program in that fiscal year. For that purpose, and any other provision of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, the board may limit the acceptance of applications for FAITH scholarships and may limit the award of scholarships.
(2) Initial recipients shall be selected on a first-come, first-served basis of all eligible applicants, which shall be limited to only one hundred fifty (150) individuals receiving scholarship funds. In the second and subsequent years of an applicant's continued eligibility, priority consideration shall first be given to renewal applicants. In any given year only one hundred fifty (150) new applicants shall be eligible to receive funds under the program, until the program reaches its maximum limitation of nine hundred (900) scholarship recipients.
SECTION 6. The program shall pay one hundred percent (100%) of the tuition and required fees, including room and board, and if available, a meal plan, for an eligible student as governed by rules promulgated by the board, in conjunction with the department. In no event shall tuition and required fees be paid pursuant to this section for more than seventy-two (72) academic credit hours toward an associate's degree or one hundred forty-four (144) academic credit hours toward a bachelor's degree for each participant. The program shall only pay tuition and fees relating to an undergraduate degree. Scholarship funds may be disbursed only if sufficient funding for the FAITH scholarship program is available.
SECTION 7. (1) (a) To be eligible to participate in the program, a scholarship applicant shall satisfy all of the following:
(i) Be in the legal custody of the foster care program of the department at the time of graduation from high school or earning a General Educational Development (GED) high school equivalency certification; or residing in a qualified residential child care agency as described in Section 2(e)(ii) of this act at the time of graduation for high school or earning a General Educational Development (GED) high school equivalency certification; or in the permanent legal custody of the foster care program of the department when his or her adoption is finalized, on or after his or her fourteenth birthday, and has graduated from high school or earned a GED certification;
(ii) Is younger than twenty-six (26) years of age at the start of the semester, workforce training program or certification program for which tuition or fees are requested from the program;
(iii) Is accepted for enrollment in a degree-granting, workforce training or certification program, or is enrolled and working toward a degree, certificate, or completion of a job training program, at a public two-year or four-year approved postsecondary educational institution or publicly funded workforce training program in the state; and
(iv) Has completed and submitted to the United States Department of Education a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), or the equivalent, before each year in which he or she receives a FAITH scholarship. He or she shall have applied for all federal student financial aid grants, including Pell grants, Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants and Education and Training Vouchers, identified as being available for the student's application by the board or by the Office of Federal Student Aid within the United States Department of Education, or its successor agency.
(b) In addition to satisfying the eligibility requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, any scholarship applicant who earns less than an 18 ACT composite score or less than a 2.5 GPA after his or her high school graduation must begin his or her postsecondary education at a community or junior college or workforce training program.
(2) To remain eligible for participation in the program after the first year of enrollment at an approved postsecondary educational institution or working training program, an applicant shall:
(a) Make adequate progress toward the completion of a degree, certification, or workforce training program as determined by rules promulgated by the board, by maintaining a 2.0 GPA for consecutive or nonconsecutive semesters of enrollment, up to six (6) years, except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section;
(b) In accordance with requirements established pursuant to rules promulgated by the board, complete at least:
(i) Ten (10) hours per week in the performance of a work study assignment;
(ii) Ten (10) hours per week of paid employment;
(iii) Ten (10) hours per week of volunteer work; or
(iv) A combination of work study, paid employment or volunteer work equal to ten (10) hours per week; and
(c) Remain in good standing with the policies established by the approved postsecondary educational institution or other workforce training or certification program in the state in which he or she is enrolled.
(3) Except when extended in accordance with subsection (4) of this section, a student shall be eligible to receive a FAITH scholarship for a maximum of one hundred forty-four (144) consecutive or nonconsecutive academic credit hours earned, after first admittance to any approved postsecondary educational institution if satisfactory progress is achieved or maintained in accordance with the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, up to age twenty-six (26).
(4) (a) The expiration of a student's eligibility shall be extended by the number of academic terms the institution determines the student was unable to enroll for or complete due to serving:
(i) On active duty status in the United States Armed Forces;
(ii) As an officer in the Commissioned Corps of the United States Public Health Service; or
(iii) On active service in the Peace Corps or the AmeriCorps.
(b) The original age limitation under subsection (3) of this section shall be extended by the total number of years during which the student was on active duty status. The number of months served on active duty status shall be rounded up to the next higher year to determine the maximum length of eligibility extension allowed.
(5) Approved postsecondary educational institutions shall provide summer and holiday room and board accommodations for students enrolled at such institutions on FAITH scholarships. However, no such requirement shall be placed upon workforce training programs, in remaining consistent with the provisions of the John H. Chaffee Foster Care Program for Successful Transition to Adulthood (42 USCS 677).
SECTION 8. A scholarship awarded pursuant to this chapter may not be reduced by the amount of any federal aid, scholarship funds, or any federal or state grant funds otherwise received by the person or by the amount of any private donations made to assist the Fostering Access and Inspiring True Hope (FAITH) program.
SECTION 9. Fostering Access and Inspiring True Hope (FAITH) scholarship funds shall be applied to tuition and mandatory fees before any other grant, loan, voucher or scholarship the student may be awarded to attend an approved postsecondary educational institution in the state or publicly funded state workforce training program.
SECTION 10. Any other provision of this chapter to the contrary notwithstanding, an otherwise eligible person who earns grants, scholarships or other awards, excluding loans, Pell Grants, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants or state grants, sufficient to pay one hundred percent (100%) of his or her tuition, room and board, and other fees at an approved postsecondary educational institution in the state or publicly funded state workforce training program, as governed by rules promulgated by the board, may not participate in the Fostering Access and Inspiring True Hope (FAITH) scholarship program.
SECTION 11. The director of the board, in conjunction with the Department of Child Protection Services, may promulgate rules as necessary to implement and administer this chapter.
SECTION 12. Nothing in this section shall be construed to:
(a) Guarantee acceptance of or entrance into any approved postsecondary educational institution or publicly funded workforce training or certification program for a foster or adopted child;
(b) Limit the participation of a foster, qualified residential child care or adopted student in any other program of financial assistance for postsecondary education;
(c) Require any approved postsecondary educational institution to waive costs or fees relating to room and board; or
(d) Restrict any approved postsecondary educational institution, the Mississippi Postsecondary Student Financial Assistance Board, or the Department of Child Protection Services from accessing other sources of financial assistance, except loans, that may be available to a foster or adopted student.
SECTION 13. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.