foster care; scholarship; tribal members

SB1768 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
foster care; scholarship; tribal members

State of Arizona

Senate

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

SB 1768

Introduced by

Senator
Gonzales

AN
ACT

amending section 15-1809.01,
Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to classification of students for tuition
purposes.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-1809.01, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
15-1809.01.

Tuition waiver scholarships; persons in foster care;
requirements; definition

A. The Arizona board of regents shall provide a
tuition waiver scholarship at any university under the jurisdiction of the
Arizona board of regents and each community college district shall provide a
tuition waiver scholarship at any community college in that community college
district to any person who meets all of the following conditions:

1. Resides in this state.

2. Either:

(a) Is currently in foster care and is at least
fourteen years of age.

(b) Was in foster care when the person was at least
fourteen years of age.

(c) Was adopted from foster care and the adoption
was finalized after the person attained fourteen years of age.

3. Is a United States citizen or is a noncitizen who
is lawfully present in this country.

4. Has total personal assets, not including
scholarships or grants received by the person, that are worth less than
$10,000.

5. Is under twenty-three years of age.

6. Is accepted into or enrolled in a degree,
certificate or other accredited program at a university under the jurisdiction
of the Arizona board of regents or a community college under the jurisdiction
of a community college district. The person must demonstrate
continuous progress toward a degree or certificate to remain eligible for a
tuition waiver scholarship issued pursuant to this section.

7. Completed and submitted to the United States
department of education a free application for federal student aid before each
year in which the person receives a tuition waiver scholarship pursuant to this
section.

8. After the first academic year in which the person
receives a tuition waiver scholarship pursuant to this section, annually
completes at least thirty hours of volunteer service during the previous
academic year.

9. Remains in good standing with the policies
established by the university or community college at which the person is
enrolled.

B. A tuition waiver scholarship
provided pursuant to this section shall be reduced by the amount of any other
federal aid scholarships or public grants and any other public aid received by
that person from or through the university or community college at which the
person is enrolled, except that a tuition waiver scholarship may not be reduced
by the amount of federal grants received by the person from the department of
child safety under the Arizona education and training voucher program.

C.

B.
If
the tuition waiver scholarship is terminated before a tuition waiver
scholarship recipient obtains an associate degree, a baccalaureate degree or a
certificate and before the recipient reaches twenty-three years of age,
that person shall continue to be awarded a tuition waiver scholarship until the
person reaches twenty-three years of age or obtains a baccalaureate
degree, an associate degree or a certificate, whichever occurs first, if the
person continues to meet the scholarship criteria prescribed by this section.

C. The tuition waiver scholarship
provided pursuant to this section shall be provided on the same terms to foster
children in this state who are members of a federally recognized Indian tribe
or who are the children of members of a federally recognized Indian tribe.

D. For the purposes of this section,
"tuition" means tuition and mandatory fees charged by the university
or community college.
END_STATUTE