A Republican lawmaker is no longer trying to end the tuition waiver for Kentuckians who are 65 and older but is pushing instead for a new requirement that at least one Democrat thinks is unnecessary.
Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, has filed a floor amendment that would leave the tuition waiver for senior citizens unchanged and as it’s been in state law since 1976.
Rep. James Tipton, R-Taylorsville, presenting a substitute for House Bill 497 in committee last week, said the new version of his bill would no longer end the tuition waiver for older Kentuckians but would add a new requirement that they file for financial aid. Tipton said the new requirement on older students would be consistent with his bill’s requirement that younger students who qualify for tuition waivers would now be required to complete the Free Application for Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA).
The legislature through the years has required public universities and colleges to waive tuition for at least 10 groups, including foster and adopted children; the survivors of war veterans; survivors of police and firefighters killed in the line of duty, and some teachers. The waiver for people 65 and older grew out of the University of Kentucky’s Herman L. Donovan Scholarship for Senior Citizens established in 1964 and named for a former UK president who championed lifelong learning. The legislature codified the waiver in 1976 for all of the state’s public universities and colleges.
Altogether, the waivers result in $31 million in foregone revenue for public universities and colleges each year, according to the Council on Postsecondary Education, which is asking the legislature to appropriate $30 million a year into a new trust fund to compensate universities for the tuition they do not collect from students who qualify for the state waivers.
In addition to students 65 and older, Tipton’s bill applies to the children and spouses of police and firefighters who are killed in the line of duty and survivors of military veterans. It adds survivors of emergency medical services personnel to those eligible for tuition waivers.
He said his bill would offset part of the waivers’ cost to institutions because many survivors would qualify for federal and state tuition grants. The state tuition waiver would then become “last dollar in” assistance to make up for the difference between the amount of financial aid and the tuition cost.
“They have shortened that FAFSA form. It’s not near as complicated as it used to be, and it’s very possible that we may have some 65 and older people who maybe are lower income, would be Pell (Grant) eligible, and that way those dollars would come into the university,” Tipton told the House Standing Committee on Postsecondary Education, which he chairs.
His bill would require senior citizens to fill out a FAFSA even if they are auditing a class rather than taking it for credit.
Willner, the only committee member to vote against Tipton’s bill, questioned the value of requiring older students to fill out the federal financial aid form to qualify for the tuition waiver. Senior citizens can enroll in free courses only if there’s space in the class; institutions are not required to add classes to accommodate them.
“I’ve reached out to some of the universities. I’ve gotten some good responses,” Willner said. “It appears to me that even though they have a line item in their budget that shows this is what they are giving up in tuition, they’re not actually spending anything out of pocket for these 65 and up folks.”
She said that staying engaged intellectually and being part of a community are known to improve health as people age.
“I really think it’s shortsighted of us not to just say, ‘If you’re 65 and up, and this is something that you’re interested in, go for it.’ I think it’s smart. I think it doesn’t really cost the state or the universities anything, and I think it would save us money and health care costs. It would make for happier, healthier, more engaged seniors.”