People living outside the state could soon be eligible for resident tuition after serving on the USS Indiana submarine, thanks to a bill coming out of the 2018 Indiana General Assembly.
House Bill 1242, which is now awaiting Gov. Eric Holcomb’s signature, isn’t expected to have much impact on the state’s public colleges and universities, but it is unusual.
If signed into law, the bill will ensure anyone who is not an Indiana resident but is or has served in the U.S. armed forces and served at least 180 days on the USS Indiana will be eligible for four years of in-state tuition at state institutions. People who are no longer serving must enroll within 12 months after being honorably discharged to be eligible.
About 150 people serve on the submarine at a time, said Chuck Carney, Indiana University spokesman. Even if everyone who is eligible chooses to take advantage of the benefit, only a portion will enroll at IU, as it also applies to other institutions.
“It’s a negligible impact on IU,” Carney said.
This was one of several bills related to higher education considered during the legislative session that ended Wednesday. Most of those bills deal with the cost of higher education and two were written for people serving in the U.S. armed forces.
House Bill 1047 was also written to help members and veterans of the U.S. armed forces pay for college. It requires veterans’ benefits to be excluded from the financial aid determination process. It also allows any active duty service member who is deployed while enrolled to either re-enroll when they return without additional cost, receive a refund for tuition and fees or receive a credit that can be used to pay for courses during a subsequent academic term.
This bill, which has been signed by the governor, also isn’t expected to have much impact on IU.
“These are things IU has done already,” Carney said.