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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Carraro

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/09/06

HB

SHORT TITLE Expand Tuition Scholarship Availability

SB 386

ANALYST Williams

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

Indeterminate, but large

Recurring

Lottery Tuition

Scholarship Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to numerous lottery scholarship and student financial aid bills

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Higher Education Department (HED)

New Mexico Lottery Authority (NMLA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 386 effectively extends the lottery scholarship program to any New Mexico high

school graduate or graduate equivalent diploma (GED) who meets the other conditions of eligi-

bility such as New Mexico resident and full-time enrollment with a 2.5 GPA for college course-

work. The bill further removes the limitation for eligibility as it applies to completion of honor-

able service or medical discharge from the service. The bill also updates to reflect statutory ref-

erences for the creation of the Higher Education Department.

Senate Bill 386 – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Given that the bill opens the lottery tuition scholarship program to any New Mexico high school

graduate, GED recipient or veteran meeting other eligibility requirements, the fiscal impact on

the lottery tuition scholarship fund is indeterminate, but potentially large. New Mexico Lottery

notes the program may not be able to generate sufficient revenue for this and other proposed eli-

gibility expansions.

HED notes for comparison purposes, 1,057 full-time, first-time freshman will enroll in public,

post-secondary institutions after being out of high school for more than one year, a 21 percent

increase in number of New Mexico residents qualifying for the lottery success scholarship.

Based on this data, HED estimates the first year cost at approximately $1.8 million.

The cost would increase over time as additional cohorts of students came into the program under

the expanded eligibility provided in this bill.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The bill effectively opens the lottery tuition scholarship program by eliminating the requirement

to immediately attend a public, post-secondary institution after high school graduation.

AW/nt:yr