2 bills aim to ease tuition burden in Utah

Two tuition bills aimed at taking some financial burden off Utah's students passed out of a legislative committee Friday.

One of the measures gives a full tuition waiver to children of men and women killed in active military duty, while the other offers easier access to in-state tuition rates to non-Utah residents.

HB309, sponsored by Rep. Greg Hughes, R-Draper, gives eight semesters of tuition-free education at any state university or college to the children of men and women who lose their lives serving in the armed forces.

"They personify the sacrifice that families are making in the state of Utah on our behalf. We in Utah have a debt that we'll never be able to repay, but we need to try in some way to lighten the load on some of these sweet families," said Hughes, who added the legislation could affect about 41 families in the state.

The bill is named after Scott B. Lundell, a West Valley man who was killed in Afghanistan in November while serving in the Utah National Guard.

His wife, Jeanine Lundell, said the bill will bring "educational security" for her four children and put to rest one of her late husband's biggest concerns about the welfare of their children.

The House Education Committee also approved a measure to offer in-state tuition rates to more out-of-state residents. The bill, HB118, reduces a requirement that students take 60 credit hours or live in the state for three years before becoming eligible for in-state tuition rates. Under the legislation, students have to live in state for only a year to get that rate, which is often a third of the cost.

Legislators made those in-state rates harder to obtain several years ago in hopes that it would mean increased revenues for schools. The plan backfired, however, and schools ended up losing enrollments of students from bordering states.

"States are now giving one-year tuition, and we're competing with that. Besides, these students coming to our colleges and universities also come and buy food, they rent places to live, they actually are an economic development in that community," said Rep. Lou Shurtliff, D-Ogden.

The bill, however, did have some opposition from committee members who didn't agree with other extra waivers in the bill, including an in-state rate for students who had a parent or a grandparent graduate from a Utah university. The bill passed the committee in a 7-4 vote.

"This has nothing to do with a highly qualified student. This is a genetically gifted student," said Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George. "What a horrific precedent this sets. We should be concerned about opening doors of higher education for those who haven't had opportunity, but what we're saying is people who come from families with higher education get a strong preference."

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