SB 592

This bill creates a program to award grants to students enrolled in technical

colleges and the two-year University of Wisconsin college campuses (UW colleges)

to meet emergency financial need. A student is eligible for a grant to pay the

student's expense resulting from a financial emergency if the student's expected

family contribution, as determined by the federal Free Application for Federal

Student Aid, is less than $5,000. "Financial emergency" is defined as an unplanned

event causing an unanticipated expense that would cause a student to not complete

that term if a grant were not available to cover the expense, and includes such

expenses as those for medical treatment or vehicle repair but not for textbooks,

student fees, or groceries. The amount of the grants awarded to a student may not

exceed a total of $500 per academic year, with a limit of two grants per student per

academic year. A student's grant application must include written proof identifying

the nature and amount of the expense and the third party to whom this amount is

owed. Grant funding is distributed by the Wisconsin Technical College System

(WTCS) Board to the technical colleges, and by the University of Wisconsin System

Board of Regents (Board of Regents) to the UW colleges, based on the anticipated

need and demand for grants at each technical college or UW college. Each technical

college and UW college must collect certain information relating to the grant

program and, at the end of each academic year, report this information to,

respectively, the WTCS Board and Board of Regents, and the WTCS Board and Board

of Regents must then report this information to the legislature.