A. Students who are pursuing studies in this state leading to an associate or baccalaureate degree or who are pursuing studies in a postsecondary vocational-technical program or course offered pursuant to a duly approved cooperative agreement between an area vocational-technical school and an institution of The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education, and who are in good academic standing in the institution of higher education or vocational-technical school in which enrolled, shall be eligible for a waiver of:

1. Undergraduate resident tuition at institutions within The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education. Students shall be eligible for such waivers up to the age of twenty-six (26) years or completion of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree, whichever comes first; and

2. Resident tuition for enrollment in postsecondary programs of the area vocational-technical districts. Students shall be eligible for such waivers up to the age of twenty-six (26) years or earn a program certificate, whichever comes first.

B. To be eligible for a waiver of tuition for the first semester or other academic unit of postsecondary enrollment, a student shall:

1. Be an individual who, within the past three (3) years, has been in the custody of the Department of Human Services for any nine (9) of the twenty-four (24) months after the individual’s sixteenth birthday and before the individual’s eighteenth birthday;

2. Be a resident of this state;

3. Have graduated within the previous three (3) years from a high school accredited by the State Board of Education, the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, or upon approval of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, a public high school in a state bordering Oklahoma in which the student enrolled with approval of the State Board of Education as provided in Section 8-103 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes or have completed General Educational Development (GED) requirements;

4. Have satisfied admission standards as determined by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education for first-time-entering students for the appropriate type of institution; and

5. Have secured admission to, and enrolled in, an institution which is a member of The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education or a postsecondary vocational-technical program offered pursuant to a duly approved cooperative agreement between an area vocational-technical school and an institution of The Oklahoma State System of Higher Education.

C. To retain eligibility for a waiver of tuition while pursuing the program of higher learning in which enrolled, the student shall:

1. Maintain good academic standing and satisfactory academic progress according to standards of the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education; and

2. Comply with the standards related to maintenance of eligibility as promulgated by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education.

D. It is the intent of the Legislature that students in the 12th grade for the 1999-2000 school year who are determined to be eligible pursuant to this section shall be the first students eligible for the tuition waiver.

Added by Laws 2000, c. 374, § 39, eff. July 1, 2000.