SENATE, No. 736

SECTION 1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Board of Higher Education shall establish guidelines to provide free tuition and all fees to all Massachusetts’ residents attending the Community Colleges within the Massachusetts system of public higher education.  The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, not the institutions of public higher education, shall bear the cost of such free tuition and fee program.

SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a business which provides educational financial assistance to a Massachusetts resident to repay a state or federal educational loan shall be eligible to deduct an amount equal to assistance provided to the employee from income reported for purposes of calculating the Massachusetts corporate excise tax.  The total financial assistance provided to an individual employee shall not exceed $1x,xxx.

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue shall establish guidelines to implement this program.

SECTION 3. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the Commonwealth shall forgive a portion of a state educational loan according to the following schedule:

(1) If a student graduates from an institution of public higher education within five years of entrance, 25% of the balance of the loan will be forgiven;

(2) If a student graduates with a 3.0 grade point average or better, 25% of the balance of the loan will be forgiven;

(3) If a student enters a "high demand" field, such as nursing, engineering, math and science, 25% of the balance of the loan will be forgiven;

(4) If a student continues to reside and is employed in the Commonwealth for at least 3 years following graduation, 25% of the balance of the loan will be forgiven.

The Board of Higher Education shall establish guidelines to implement this program.