Senate Bill No. 487
(By Senators Bailey, Hunter, Jenkins, Minard, Unger and Kessler)
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[Introduced February 7, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Military; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §15-1B-21 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to payment of tuition and fees for
members of the National Guard attending institutions of higher
education; and including pursuit of a master's degree.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §15-1B-21 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1B. NATIONAL GUARD.
§15-1B-21. Tuition and fees for guard members at institutions of
higher education.
(a) Any member of the National Guard who is enrolled in a
course of undergraduate or post-graduate study and is attending any
accredited college, university, business or trade school located in
West Virginia or is attending any aviation school located in West
Virginia for the purpose of taking college-credit courses may be entitled to payment of tuition and fees at that college,
university, business or trade school or aviation school during the
period of his or her service in the National Guard: Provided, That
the Adjutant General may prescribe criteria of eligibility for
payment of tuition and fees at the college, university, business or
trade school or aviation school: Provided, however, That the
payment is contingent upon appropriations being made by the
Legislature for this express purpose.
(b) The amount of the payment for members attending a
state-supported school shall be determined by the Adjutant General
and may not exceed the actual amount of tuition and fees at the
school. The amount of the payment for members attending a private
school shall be determined by the Adjutant General, but in no event
may it exceed the highest amounts payable at any state-supported
school.
(c) Any member of the National Guard who is enrolled in a
course of postgraduate study and is attending any accredited
college or university located in West Virginia, and is receiving
payments under the Army continuing education system, may be
entitled to payment of tuition and fees at that college or
university during his or her period of service in the National
Guard: Provided, That the sum of payments received under this
subsection and the Army continuing education system may not exceed
the actual amount of tuition and fees at the school and in no event
may exceed the highest amounts payable at any state-supported school. The payments are contingent upon appropriations being made
by the Legislature for this express purpose. For the purposes of
this section, post-graduate includes pursuit of a master's degree.
(d) The Adjutant General may, in lieu of the tuition payment
authorized by this section, pay an amount equal to the amount of
tuition which otherwise would have been paid directly to members of
the West Virginia National Guard who are participating in the
PROMISE Scholarship Program provided in article seven, chapter
eighteen-c of this code.
(e) A member of the West Virginia National Guard who is
receiving payments for tuition and fees under this section and is
discharged from the military service due to wounds or injuries
received in the line of duty may continue to receive payments for
tuition and fees under this section as if he or she were still a
member of the West Virginia National Guard.
(f) The Adjutant General shall administer the tuition and fee
payments authorized under this section and shall propose policies
to implement the provisions of this section.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to entitle National Guard
members pursuing a master's degree to payment of tuition and fees.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)