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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)
SENATE BILL 185 By: Haste
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to higher education; creating the
Oklahoma Department of Transportation Educational
Assistance Act; providing short title; defining
terms; creating the Oklahoma Department of
Transportation Educational Assistance Program to
provide tuition and fee assistance to certain
eligible students; providing for amount of
assistance, subject to availability of funding;
providing limitation on amount of assistance;
directing assistance to be provided based on certain
factors; prohibiting assistance for courses taken in
excess of certain requirements; prohibiting
assistance for certain courses; providing for
eligibility retention; requiring submission of
application prescribed by certain agency; allowing
continued assistance to be denied under certain
circumstances; providing for promulgation of rules;
establishing requirements for assistance repayment;
requiring deposit of repayments in certain fund;
directing the Transportation Commission to establish
certain schedule; allowing repayment waiver under
certain circumstances; providing for submission of
waiver request; allowing the Department of
Transportation to accept certain gifts and grants;
directing funds to be transferred to certain fund;
providing for promulgation of rules; creating the
Oklahoma Department of Transportation Educational
Assistance Revolving Fund; specifying sources of
fund; providing for expenditures; providing purpose
of fund; providing for codification; providing an
effective date; and declaring an emergency.
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 3234 of Title 70, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. This act shall be known and may be cited as the “Oklahoma
Department of Transportation Educational Assistance Act”.
B. As used in this act:
1. “Commission” means the Transportation Commission;
2. “Department” means the Department of Transportation;
3. “Eligible degree” means a baccalaureate degree from an
Oklahoma educational institution in a field of study that satisfies
the Department’s minimum education requirements for an eligible
profession;
4. “Eligible profession” means an engineer, a land surveyor, or
an accountant;
5. “Eligible student” means a student who has a high school
diploma or who has completed General Educational Development (GED)
requirements and who:
a. has completed and filed with the Department, on forms
prescribed by the Department, an application and a
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declaration of intent to become a member of an
eligible profession and work for the Department for
five (5) years immediately following the date of the
student’s receipt of an eligible degree,
b. has enrolled in an Oklahoma educational institution,
c. is an Oklahoma resident, and
d. is age eighteen (18) or older;
6. “Graduate program” means a program offered by an Oklahoma
educational institution that leads to the award of a master’s degree
or higher;
7. “Oklahoma educational institution” means an institution of
higher education within The Oklahoma State System of Higher
Education;
8. “Program” means the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Educational Assistance Program; and
9. “Undergraduate program” means a program offered by an
Oklahoma educational institution that leads to the award of a
baccalaureate degree.
C. There is hereby created the Oklahoma Department of
Transportation Educational Assistance Program to provide assistance
to eligible students who enroll in an Oklahoma educational
institution and who agree to work for the Department in an eligible
profession for the five (5) years immediately following the date of
the student’s receipt of an eligible degree. The Commission shall
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promulgate rules prescribing the criteria for the selection of
applicants pursuant to this act. Subject to the availability of
funding, the amount of assistance shall be equivalent to the amount
of resident tuition, mandatory fees, and academic service fees for
courses in which the eligible student is enrolled, not to exceed a
maximum of eighteen (18) credit hours each semester.
1. The amount of assistance provided to an eligible student
enrolled in an undergraduate program shall not exceed the number of
hours required for completion of an undergraduate program in pursuit
of a baccalaureate degree.
2. Subject to the assistance for eligible students enrolled in
undergraduate programs being fully funded, assistance shall be
provided to an eligible student with a baccalaureate degree enrolled
in a graduate program. The amount of assistance provided to an
eligible student enrolled in a graduate program shall not exceed the
number of hours required for completion of a master’s degree.
3. Assistance provided pursuant to this act shall be granted
without any limitation other than the amount of funds available for
the program and the number of eligible students who apply.
4. Assistance allowed by this act shall not be allowed for
courses taken in excess of the requirements for completion of an
undergraduate program or a graduate program, whichever is applicable
for the eligible student.
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5. Assistance allowed by this act shall not be allowed for
courses in which the eligible student earns a failing grade.
D. 1. To retain eligibility for the program, an eligible
student shall:
a. maintain good academic standing and satisfactory
academic progress according to standards of the
Oklahoma educational institution in which the eligible
student is enrolled,
b. maintain the requirements for retention and degree
completion as established by the Oklahoma educational
institution in which the eligible student is enrolled,
and
c. maintain a minimum grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0
scale.
2. An eligible student seeking assistance pursuant to the
provisions of this act shall submit an application on a form
prescribed by the Department prior to the semester for which
assistance is sought.
3. An eligible student may be denied continued assistance if he
or she fails to comply with the provisions of this act.
E. 1. The Commission shall promulgate rules establishing
conditions under which an eligible student who has received
assistance pursuant to this act may be required to repay all or part
of the assistance because the eligible student has withdrawn from
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the Oklahoma educational institution or has failed to meet the
requirements of paragraph 1 of subsection D of this section.
2. An eligible student who does not become a member of an
eligible profession and work for the Department for the five (5)
years immediately following the date of the student’s receipt of an
eligible degree shall repay all assistance received by the eligible
student.
3. Repayments shall be deposited into the Oklahoma Department
of Transportation Educational Assistance Revolving Fund created
pursuant to Section 2 of this act.
4. The Commission shall establish a schedule for installment
repayments under this act.
5. An eligible student who has received program assistance
pursuant to the provisions of this act and who fails to comply with
the provisions of this act due to hardship circumstances may request
a waiver from repayment. A waiver request shall be submitted in
writing to the Director of the Department of Transportation.
F. The Department may accept gifts and grants from any public
or private source for the program and may also use any state funds
that have been specifically appropriated or apportioned for the
program created pursuant to this act. All funding received by the
Department for this purpose shall be transferred to the Oklahoma
Department of Transportation Educational Assistance Revolving Fund
created pursuant to Section 2 of this act.
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G. The Commission shall promulgate rules to implement the
provisions of this act.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 3235 of Title 70, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
There is hereby created in the State Treasury a revolving fund
to be designated the “Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Educational Assistance Revolving Fund”. The fund shall be a
continuing fund, not subject to fiscal year limitations, and shall
consist of monies received by the Department of Transportation
pursuant to paragraph 3 of subsection E of Section 1 of this act and
subsection F of Section 1 of this act provided for the purpose of
funding the Oklahoma Department of Transportation Educational
Assistance Program. All monies accruing to the credit of the fund
are hereby appropriated and may be budgeted and expended by the
Department of Transportation for the purpose provided for in this
section. Expenditures from the fund shall be made upon warrants
issued by the State Treasurer against claims filed as prescribed by
law with the Director of the Office of Management and Enterprise
Services for approval and payment.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective July 1, 2025.
SECTION 4. It being immediately necessary for the preservation
of the public peace, health, or safety, an emergency is hereby
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declared to exist, by reason whereof this act shall take effect and
be in full force from and after its passage and approval.
60-1-931 EB 12/30/2024 1:47:15 PM