HD14 - The Senior Citizens Higher Education Act
Executive Summary: The Senior Citizens Higher Education Act was passed by the General Assembly in 1974 to permit persons over sixty years of age to attend state-supported institutions of higher education with no tuition charge. This privilege was available to anyone whose taxable income the year before they enrolled in an institution of higher education was $5,000 or less. The Act states that senior citizens who claim this tuition waiver must meet the regular admissions criteria of the institution and must pay any course or laboratory fee. The Act also requires that persons who want to enroll in courses and use this tuition waiver may do so only after the institution has accommodated all students who pay the regular tuition. Finally, the Act provides that none of the persons who enroll under this Act can be counted by an institution in its full-time equivalent enrollment. In 1982 the General Assembly amended the Act and raised the income threshold to $7,500. The General Assembly also requested that the State Council of Higher Education study the fiscal impact of the Senior Citizen Higher Education Act on the colleges and universities. The staff of the Council of Higher Education thanks the institutions for providing the information necessary to conduct this study. The staff also thanks Dr. Jean Romaniuk of the Virginia Center on Aging at Virginia Commonwealth University for her assistance in the preparation of this study. |
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