Section 3333.93 | Workforce-education partnership programs.

• Effective: October 1, 2020
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 614 - 133rd General Assembly

(A) As used in this section, "college or university" means both of the following:

(1) A state institution of higher education as defined in section 3345.011 of the Revised Code.

(2) A private college as defined in section 3365.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) A college or university and employers may establish a workforce-education partnership program to provide assistance to students to allow the students to graduate from the college or university with no student loan indebtedness. The chancellor of higher education shall create a template for a college or university and employers to use to establish a program. The chancellor shall consult with state and local workforce and economic development agencies to develop the template and include all of the following in the template:

(1) The process for an employer to participate in the program;

(2) A requirement that, to be eligible to participate in the program, a student be enrolled in a degree-granting program at a college or university on at least a half-time basis, as determined by the chancellor, and be a paid employee of an employer participating in the program;

(3) The process for an eligible student under division (B)(2) of this section to enroll in the program;

(4) Guidance for the college or university to designate a mentor to assist students within the college or university;

(5) Guidance for an employer to designate a mentor to assist students at the employer's workplace;

(6) Guidance for the college or university and employers to create a process to make a housing stipend available to students enrolled in the program;

(7) Guidance for the college or university and employers to make life management and professional skills training available to students enrolled in the program;

(8) A requirement that an employer establish an educational assistance program pursuant to section 127 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 26 U.S.C. 127 and provide tuition assistance for a student enrolled at the college or university while working for the employer, up to the maximum amount that the employer may exclude from the employer's gross income under that section;

(9) A requirement that the college or university work with students enrolled in the program to ensure that the students have applied for and are receiving the maximum amount of financial aid, in the form of scholarships and grants, that the students are eligible to receive to cover the student's costs to attend the college or university;

(10) A requirement that the college or university and employers seek out additional sources of funding to cover any remaining costs to attend the college or university that are not covered under divisions (B)(8) and (9) of this section for students enrolled in the program.

(C) The chancellor shall evaluate the effectiveness of the workforce-education partnership programs established under this section to determine whether additional training and employment programs may use the template created in division (B) of this section to establish a workforce-education partnership program.

Available Versions of this Section

• December 22, 2015 – House Bill 340 - 131st General Assembly
• April 5, 2017 – House Bill 384, Senate Bill 3 - 131st General Assembly
• October 1, 2020 – Enacted by House Bill 614 - 133rd General Assembly