All Roll Calls
Yes: 211 • No: 24
ConnecticutSB 012972025 Regular SessionSenateWALLET
AN ACT CONCERNING MINOR REVISIONS TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION STATUTES CONCERNING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CONNECTICUT STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND THE BOARD OF REGENTS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION.
Sponsored By: Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
Signed by Governor
Summary
To update references in the general statutes to the regional community-technical colleges to Connecticut State Community College and to the Board of Trustees of the Connecticut State University System and the Board of Trustees of the Community-Technical Colleges to the Board of Regents for Higher Education.
higher education and employment advancement
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
15 provisions identified: 12 benefits, 2 costs, 1 mixed.
Tuition waivers help eligible college students
Connecticut State Community College must waive tuition for eligible veterans, Guard members, State Police Academy students, and specified dependents or surviving spouses. Covered families include those of qualifying POW/MIA service members, fallen public employees, terrorist victims, and service members killed in action. The law also covers eligible relatives of the resident killed in the July 29, 2005, Avon crash. Connecticut residents age 62 or older qualify after regular registration when enrollment is sufficient and space remains. Employer education payments reduce waivers; eligible veterans and Guard members keep equal registration status. For eligible veterans seeking federal Post-9/11 aid, the college waives tuition beyond the federal tuition payment. Veterans can use the general waiver after certifying that their federal application was denied or withdrawn. The state annually reimburses specified waiver costs above 5% of tuition revenue, based on the Board's estimated losses.
Regional nonresident students face tuition floor
Nonresident students in the New England Regional Student Program must pay at least 150% of resident tuition for similar programs. The Board of Regents and UConn's board set these rates. This minimum applies to that regional program, not all nonresident students.
College aid funds and textbook access
The Board of Regents must reserve tuition revenue for waivers, tuition reductions, education grants, and student jobs under its tuition policy. It may reserve another 1% of tuition revenue for students with financial need who otherwise would not qualify for aid. Eligible students must be Connecticut residents in full- or part-time degree programs or precollege remedial programs. The extra aid's need test excludes primary-home equity and counts 30% of a dependent student's earnings. The state university system must adopt a policy for students who meet all federal, state, and school aid requirements. It must provide aid by the term's first day or allow pending aid for required campus-store textbooks during the first week.
Service members can repeat interrupted courses
Community college students called to active duty during a semester can repeat courses they paid for but could not finish. They pay no additional tuition, student fees, or related charges for those courses. They must reenroll within four years after release from active duty and cannot have been fully reimbursed for course costs.
Unemployed residents get job training access
The Board of Regents must develop a program giving unemployed Connecticut residents access to short-term community college training. These noncredit programs teach job skills and provide workforce credentials. The law does not specify a cash payment or promise free tuition.
State can take land for campuses
Beginning June 9, 2025, the state can take land or land interests to expand certain educational sites. Covered sites include state universities, the Technical Education and Career System, and technical colleges. State planning requirements apply, and damages are determined under the state's land-taking law. The law names no specific property or payment amount.
College property donors gain liability protection
People donating tangible property to Connecticut State Community College or its campuses gain protection from certain civil claims. It covers damage or injury resulting from the donor's act, error, or omission concerning the property. Donations must occur on or after July 1, 2023, and harm on or after October 1, 2013. Protection does not cover reckless, wilful, or wanton misconduct.
Community college cannot charge graduation fees
The Board of Regents cannot charge Connecticut State Community College students a fee for graduating. The law does not state the amount of the avoided charge.
High school students gain college pathways
Each semester since fall 2020, public-high-school advanced manufacturing certificate programs must enroll eligible 11th- and 12th-graders from districts with required agreements. Students can earn high school and college credits and a certificate. Community college or independent college operators may run programs; adults may attend evenings or weekends with local school-board approval. The J. M. Wright Technical High School pilot offers Norwalk campus courses for college credit within existing budgets and staffing. That pilot runs each school year beginning with the year starting July 1, 2010. Community college campus leaders must also consult regional public high schools to build partnerships, such as career counseling and course alignment.
College magnet schools qualify for grants
The Board of Regents can seek magnet-school grants for eligible college programs, including the Quinebaug Valley and Three Rivers campuses. Broader community college and state university eligibility requires an Education Commissioner finding that programs help meet Sheff school-desegregation obligations. Building grants can reimburse up to 80% of eligible costs; project requirements apply unless waived for good cause. Transportation grants support children attending magnet programs outside their home towns. Operating, supplemental, academic-support, and summer-school grants are available, subject to applicable funding limits; academic-support and summer programs need commissioner approval. Start-up grants for new qualifying Sheff-related programs are capped at $75,000.
Colleges must maintain campus safety systems
State higher-education units and independent colleges must submit current campus security plans to the state emergency services department. They must review plans every two years with campus police or security leaders and submit needed revisions by August 1. Plans must address educating staff to recognize and respond to people at risk of harming themselves or others. Each campus must also have a comprehensively trained threat assessment team able to carry out its safety plan. Presidents select members in consultation with campus police or security leaders; the law removes the former 2013 and 2014 deadlines.
Nursing campuses can fund more faculty
Up to four community college campuses can receive nursing faculty expansion aid for up to two years. Annual aid cannot exceed $75,000 or the campus's secured nonstate funding, whichever is less. Campuses must submit an expansion plan, signed hospital or health-care partner commitments, and funding information. The Board considers the plan's success before providing second-year aid.
Campus funds support scholarships and equipment
Eligible gifts go into separate permanent endowments for community college campuses or the college as a whole. Each year, campuses receive a share of state grants and earnings, including capital gains, proportional to their eligible gifts. Required transfers occur within 30 days after the state grant arrives. Campus parking and traffic fines fund scholarships and libraries after deductions no greater than enforcement costs; fine amounts do not change. The Board of Regents can also receive up to $30,000 in bond proceeds for capital equipment.
Campus leaders gain purchasing and hiring powers
Campus leaders can buy equipment, supplies, and services, make personal-service agreements, and lease personal property without three state officials' approval. They must consult the administrative services commissioner and follow governing-board policies adopted with public input. Those policies remain subject to the law's review requirements. Campus and institution leaders can also create positions and approve filling vacancies within available funds and board policies.
Community college campuses get governance rules
The Board of Regents administers Connecticut State Community College, sets policies and programs, and employs campus staff. It must establish campuses serving southeastern Connecticut, New Britain-Bristol, northeastern Connecticut, northern Connecticut, the lower Naugatuck Valley, and greater Waterbury. The Board also has campus review, quality oversight, and merger or closure authority. Merger or closure recommendations require a two-thirds Board vote and notice to the legislature and its education committee. The law itself does not merge or close a campus. Each campus gets one student advisory committee member; campus student government must elect a replacement within 30 days of a vacancy.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
Affiliation unavailable
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 3/13/2025
Senate Roll Call Vote 100
Yes: 36 • No: 0
Senate vote • 3/13/2025
Senate Roll Call Vote 99
Yes: 11 • No: 24
Senate vote • 3/13/2025
HED Vote Tally Sheet (Joint Favorable Substitute)
Yes: 18 • No: 0
House vote • 3/13/2025
House Roll Call Vote 180
Yes: 146 • No: 0
Actions Timeline
Signed by the Governor
6/9/2025legislatureTransmitted by Secretary of the State to Governor
6/3/2025legislatureTransmitted to the Secretary of State
6/3/2025legislaturePublic Act 25-22
5/30/2025legislatureIn Concurrence
5/22/2025legislatureHouse Passed
5/22/2025HouseHouse Calendar Number 518
5/1/2025HouseFavorable Report, Tabled for the Calendar, House
5/1/2025HouseSenate Passed
4/30/2025SenateSenate Rejected Senate Amendment Schedule A 7622
4/30/2025SenateFile Number 376
4/1/2025legislatureSenate Calendar Number 227
4/1/2025SenateFavorable Report, Tabled for the Calendar, Senate
4/1/2025SenateReported Out of Legislative Commissioners' Office
4/1/2025legislatureReferred to Office of Legislative Research and Office of Fiscal Analysis 03/31/25 5:00 PM
3/25/2025legislatureFiled with Legislative Commissioners' Office
3/17/2025legislatureJoint Favorable Substitute
3/13/2025legislaturePublic Hearing 02/20
2/14/2025legislatureReferred to Joint Committee on Higher Education and Employment Advancement
2/13/2025legislature
Bill Text
Public Act No. 25-22
5/30/2025
File No. 376
4/1/2025
HED Joint Favorable Substitute
3/13/2025
Raised Bill
2/13/2025
Bill Analysis For File Copy 376
Fiscal Note For File Copy 376
Fiscal Note for Amendment LCO 7622 (See Fiscal Note Details)
HED Joint Fav. Rpt
HED Vote Tally Sheet (Joint Favorable Substitute)
House Roll Call Vote 180
Senate Roll Call Vote 100
Senate Roll Call Vote 99
Senate Schedule A LCO# 7622 (R)
Summary for Public Act No. 25-22
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