By Mr. Moore, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate,
No. 729) of Richard T. Moore for legislation to establish
a higher education assistance pilot program. Higher
Education. |
By Mr. Moore, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate,
No. 729) of Richard T. Moore for legislation to establish
a higher education assistance pilot program. Higher
Education. |
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education (Board), is hereby directed to establish a two year pilot program to promote student retention and employment partnerships between the Commonwealth’s college and university graduates and the state’s business community. The Board shall be directed to establish rules governing the implementation and administration of the pilot program.
SECTION 2. The Board shall choose not more than 5 institutions from the Commonwealth’s public and private colleges and universities to participate in the pilot program; provided further, the Board, in consultation with the state’s Department of Business and Technology, shall choose not more than 5 business entities in the Commonwealth to participate in this pilot program; provided further that those business entities may consist of, but not be limited to, employers from the financial services, life sciences, high technology, health care, and higher education industries; provided further, the Board shall allow not more than 150 students to participate in the pilot program; and provided further, only students in good academic standing, who attend a degree granting collegiate program, and who have obtained more than fifty percent of their credits needed to graduate shall be eligible to participate in this pilot program.
SECTION 3. Business entities selected to participate in the pilot program shall supplement a percentage of a participating student’s tuition & fees and, in agreeing to offer this assistance, shall receive a 20% state income tax credit on the first $5,000 of tuition & fees paid by the participating business entity; provided further, that in exchange for receiving tuition & fee assistance from a participating business entity, graduating students shall agree to work for that business entity for an agreed upon length of time, which shall not to exceed 24 months; and provided further that in the event a participating student is unable to perform work for said business entity upon graduation, that student shall be obligated to refund all or a portion of the financial assistance provided by the business entity, unless the student’s failure to perform is based upon a condition or conditions set forth by the Board.
SECTION 4. Two years after the commencement of the pilot program, the Board shall report to the legislature’s joint committees on ways and means, higher education, and labor & workforce development, the results of the pilot program and shall recommend it expansion, continuation, or discontinuation.
SECTION 5. The Board is hereby authorized, subject to appropriation, to expend two hundred thousand dollars for the administration and evaluation of the pilot program.
