Hawaii-2024-HB1795-Introduced

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that access to higher education plays an important role in individual and societal success. According to the College Board, there is a correlation between higher levels of education and higher earnings for all racial and ethnic groups, as well as for men and women. The College Board has also noted that the income gap between high school graduates and college graduates has increased significantly over time, while higher levels of education also correspond to lower levels of unemployment, poverty, public health risks, and incarceration throughout society.

The legislature further finds that in April 2016, the Institute for Research on Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education issued a study that analyzed college costs in relation to family income level. The study revealed that while Hawaii ranks high in college affordability, higher education costs remain a major expense for working families, especially those earning less than $30,000 annually. The department of education also reported that the college-going rate for the class of 2021 is fifty-one per cent, with Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Filipino students continuing to enroll in college at rates that are lower than other ethnic groups.

Additionally, the legislature finds that the Hawaii community college promise program was established to alleviate the high cost of obtaining a college education for low-income families. Yet the program, along with other financial aid policies, has not made community college fully affordable for all students who wish to enroll in a community college. Currently, the State provides minimal need-based assistance to offset the unmet direct cost of community college for qualified students enrolled at any community college campus within the university of Hawaii system, with the financial assistance through the program contingent upon available funding.

The legislature also finds that some states, including California, Delaware, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington, have implemented programs to make community college free for all or most students. The legislature finds that expanding access to the Hawaii community college promise program to all qualified applicants would increase Hawaii's college-going rate, especially for students and families who are economically disadvantaged. Expanding access would also provide the educational opportunities that are necessary for the development of a sustainable and diversified twenty-first century economy in the State.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to create a working group to evaluate possibilities for making community college free for Hawaii residents.

SECTION 2. (a) There is established a free community college working group within the university of Hawaii for administrative purposes.

(b) The working group shall:

(1) Develop recommendations for making community college free for Hawaii residents who are enrolled in a classified degree or certificate program with six or more credits per semester; provided that students would only be eligible to participate in the program for an equivalent of sixty credits;

(2) Evaluate the cost of making community college free for Hawaii residents;

(3) Determine potential eligibility criteria for a free community college program for students, including whether or not such a program should operate as an extension of or as a replacement for the Hawaii promise program; and

(4) Perform an analysis of free community college programs in other states to determine what aspects of those programs may be beneficial to incorporate into a free community college program for Hawaii.

(1) The president of the university of Hawaii or the president's designee, who shall serve as chairperson of the working group;

(2) The director of budget and finance, or the director's designee;

(3) The superintendent of education, or the superintendent's designee;

(4) The chairperson of the senate committee with primary jurisdiction over higher education, or the chairperson's designee;

(5) The chairperson of the house of representatives committee with primary jurisdiction over higher education and technology, or the chairperson's designee;

(6) The director of the university of Hawaii's institutional research, analysis, and planning office or the director's designee;

(7) A chancellor of a community college that has implemented a pilot project or other similar program to make tuition free, or the chancellor's designee;

(8) The executive director of the Hawaii P-20 initiative, or the executive director's designee;

(9) The president of the university of Hawaii professional assembly, or the president's designee; and

(10) Other interested parties with experience in higher education that the chairperson deems relevant to the purposes of the working group, to be invited by the chairperson.

(d) The members of the working group shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses, necessary for the performance of their duties. No member of the working group shall be subject to chapter 84, Hawaii Revised Statutes, solely because of the member's participation in the working group.

(e) The working group shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2025.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	1795
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII