The tuition grant program for national guard members administered by the Department of Military Affairs. (FE)

What it does

Summary by the Legislative Reference Bureau, the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

This bill makes changes to the tuition grant program administered by the Department of Military Affairs relating to eligibility and timing of higher education grants paid to national guard members and to administration of the program.

Under current law, DMA awards tuition grants to national guard members to reimburse them for higher education tuition costs if certain eligibility criteria are satisfied. The amount of the tuition grant payment is equal to 100 percent of the actual tuition charged by the guard member's school or 100 percent of the maximum resident undergraduate tuition charged by the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a comparable number of credits, whichever amount is less. Among the eligibility criteria, a national guard member may not receive a tuition reimbursement grant if, at the time of completion of the semester to be reimbursed, the guard member fails to achieve a minimum grade point average of 2.0, fails to be an actively drilling guard member, or fails to be a guard member in good standing. DMA must require a national guard member to repay the amount of a tuition grant if the national guard member is separated from the national guard for misconduct, including being absent without leave for more than nine unit training assemblies. If an eligible student's school has certified to DMA that the student has achieved at least a 2.0 GPA for the semester for which reimbursement is sought, DMA must pay the tuition grant amount to the student within 30 days after receiving this certification.

Who's behind it

8 senators are its authors⁠. 5 are Republicans and 3 are Democrats.

31 more lawmakers signed on in support⁠.

What it would cost

State agencies filed a cost estimate. Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

• Fiscal Estimate From DMA