[LWVNM Action] Governor signed SB140 - Opportunity Scholarships Act today at Western NM Uniiversity! Life changer!

[Meredith Machen]

NM Opportunity Scholarships Act fund provides tuition and fees for qualified NM residents without bachelor’s degrees and associate degrees.
 
Today, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the SB140 Opportunity Scholarships Act (Sponsored by Sen. Liz Stefanics, Rep. Joy Garratt) at WNMU. This expansion of the Opportunity Scholarships program is a transformative investment that will allow qualified NM residents* without bachelor’s degrees access to free tuition and fees at any of NM’s public post-secondary institutions. The NM Higher Education Department is promulgating rules and eligibility requirements now and available starting with the fall semester.  
 
The program covers qualified NM residents wishing to pursue credit-bearing certificates, associate degrees (up to 90 credits), and bachelor’s degrees (up to 160 credits).
An eligible student must complete at least six credits a semester (fall and spring) with a 2.5 GPA toward There are no income eligibility requirements. Recipients can also use these scholarships in summer semesters. 
 
*The act covers qualified NM residents without a social security number as well as incarcerated residents. Residency for tuition purposes is defined as 12 months. 
 
See attached and info at link and please spread the word about this fabulous opportunity. 
 https://hed.state.nm.us/free-college-for-new-mexico. And please thank the governor and the sponsors!
 
Meredith Machen, Education Co-Chair
League of Women Voters of New Mexico                                            
 <tel:505-577-6337> 505-577-6337 c
 <mailto:projects at lwvnm.org> projects at lwvnm.org
 <mailto:meredith.machen at gmail.com> meredith.machen at gmail.com
 
Empowering Voters - Defending Democracy
 
 
From: Action [mailto:action-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Richard Mason via Action
Sent: Friday, March 4, 2022 8:17 AM
To: LWVNM Action
Cc: Richard Mason
Subject: [LWVNM Action] Governor has signed all of the bills we supported except SB140 - LWVNM Tracking sheet
 
(From the ABQ Journal)  Governor Lujan Grisham has until Wednesday to act on bills passed in the final days of the session. Among the proposals awaiting action are the state budget, a crime package, expansion of a college scholarship program (SB140) and tax cuts.
 
SB140 was a priority for the Governor so no doubt she will sign it. Maybe as early as today (Friday)
 
Dick Mason
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.swcp.com/pipermail/action/attachments/20220304/20e94614/attachment-0001.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Opportunity Scholarships_FAQ.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 216055 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.swcp.com/pipermail/action/attachments/20220304/20e94614/attachment-0001.pdf>