Proposal describes Oklahoma Promise eligibility rules for students and families

The proposal describes income rules for students adopted from specified care settings and students who were in those settings during grades eight through eleven. The rules cover students adopted from state custody, a licensed nonprofit child-placing agency, or a federally recognized tribe, and students in those custody settings during grades eight through eleven. For students adopted between birth and age 12, parent income above $150,000 a year means the student is not considered to have financial need. For students adopted after age 13 but before age 18, that limit is $200,000 a year. For students in the specified custody settings during grades eight through eleven, the student’s own income above $60,000 a year means the student is not considered to have financial need. Students in the grades eight through eleven custody group must enter the program by their official high school graduation date.

The proposal describes which school workers may count as certified teachers for a child’s program eligibility. This concerns students whose parent is counted as a certified teacher under the program rules. Eligible workers include certain full-time counselors, librarians, school nurses, athletic trainers, and teachers at technology center school districts, if they meet the stated requirements. A parent must have ten years of qualifying employment within the last twenty years; the years need not be consecutive or at the same district. School administrators and workers with emergency or provisional certificates do not qualify. For the student to receive an award under this provision, household income must be below 700% of the federal poverty level, and the State Regents must verify the parent’s employment and teaching certificate. The State Regents must check the parent’s full-time employment and teaching certificate before the student receives an award.

The proposal describes when eligible students may enter the program and sign its participation agreement. These entry rules apply to students seeking Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program aid, including students educated outside public or private schools. Students in public or private schools generally must enter by December 31 of their twelfth-grade year or by high school graduation, whichever comes first. Students educated by other means generally must enter before age 18 or before completing their education program, whichever comes first. Some students who qualify later may enter before age 21. A student age 21 or older cannot enter the program. Some students who qualify after the usual school-year deadline or after turning 18 may enter before age 21; students age 21 or older cannot enter.