Raleigh, N.C. – A bipartisan proposal in the state House of Representatives to cap community college tuition for active-duty soldiers in North Carolina passed committee on Tuesday and would provide financial relief to members of the Armed Forces seeking higher education.
House Bill 247 ‘Limit Soldiers’ Community College Tuition’ is sponsored by Rep. Craig Horn (R-Union), Rep. Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke), Rep. Ed Hanes (D-Forsyth) and Rep. Elmer Floyd (D-Cumberland), and passed by unanimous voice vote in the House Education Committee on Community Colleges.
The legislation helps military service members by limiting their community college tuition to the maximum amount for which they are eligible to receive federal assistance, ensuring they have affordable access to higher education.
“For our soldiers who put their lives on the line, this is the least we can do to help them finish a degree they started before deployment or are looking to pursue now that they’ve returned,” said Rep. Hugh Blackwell.
The bill applies to active duty Armed Forces members who maintain continuous enrollment in a degree program, as well as those unable to maintain enrollment due to redeployment or reassignment.
“Our young men and women in the military are constantly deployed and redeployed, disrupting their personal lives on the home front and the education front,” Rep. Hanes told the House Education Committee on Community Colleges.
“House Bill 247 seeks to honor our heroes by easing this disruption on the education front.”