Schools
House Passes Bill to Extend OLAP to Older Students
HB2227 raises qualifying age to 18 for students who lose parents after 10th-grade.
OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill today that extends eligibility to the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OLAP), granting access to college tuition funding for students who otherwise might not be able to attend college.
House Bill 2227, authored by State Rep. Todd Russ, (R-55, Cordell), extends OLAP for qualifying students in 11th or 12th grades or who are between the ages of 16 and 18 who are educated by other means, such as homeschooling, if their parents have become deceased after the students 10th-grade year.
Currently, students are eligible to apply for OLAP between the ages of 13 and 15 in their 8th, 9th or 10th-grade years. The scholarship is for students based on financial need and who meet academic requirements.
Find out what's happening in Oklahoma Cityfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The measure also sets annual income requirements for adoptive parents. The income cannot exceed $55,000 in the 2019-2020 school year of $60,000 for the 2021-2022 school year.
“OLAP has proven to be very popular, allowing many Oklahoma students who would not otherwise be able to afford college to attend and succeed in receiving their degrees,” Russ said. “This change will help those students whose life circumstances radically change because of the death of their parents after the normal cutoff date for application for this program.”
Find out what's happening in Oklahoma Cityfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
HB 2227 is co-authored by Reps. Johnny Tadlock (R-1, Broken Bow) and Dean Davis (R-98, Broken Arrow).
The bill passed the House by a vote of 85-0. It now crosses to the state Senate where its progress will be overseen by Sen. Ron Sharp, (R-17, Shawnee), the principal Senate co-author.
