The Arizona State Senate has passed a bill that would provide in-state tuition rates at universities and community colleges to veterans and their families, reports The State Press. The proposed legislation, Senate Bill 1115, now heads to the Arizona House of Representatives.
Currently, out-of-state students pay almost $19,000 more in tuition than in-state students. Under the new bill, however, veterans stationed and residing in Arizona for at least 12 months, as well as their spouses and dependent children, would receive in-state tuition. Additionally, they would be exempt from a rule requiring that veterans using GI Bill benefits enroll in higher education within three years after military discharge.
“I think a lot of people sign up kind of under a misconception of I can go literally anywhere I want on the GI Bill, and everything will be paid for, which isn't always the case,” Wyatt Russell a sophomore studying computer science, told The State Press. “This (bill), I guess, gets closer to meeting those goals and those desires of the people who are in it for the education.”
The bill was written in response to two acts passed by the Biden administration in 2021 — the Col. John M. McHugh Tuition Fairness for Survivors Act and the Isakson and Roe Veterans Health Care and Improvement Act — which require that that military benefit policy changes at the state level by July 2022, reports The State Press.
