AN ACT relating to KEES scholarships for students attending noncertified schools.
HB249 expands Kentucky’s KEES scholarship program to include students attending Kentucky noncertified private, parochial, or church schools, beginning with students enrolled after June 30, 2026. The bill creates a new category of “eligible noncertified school student” and allows those students to earn KEES base awards by meeting an “equivalent GPA” standard built from dual credit coursework, Advanced Placement exams, or a combination of both. It also sets AP-to-GPA conversion values and requires these students to satisfy reporting and application requirements established by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA).
The bill also extends KEES supplemental awards to noncertified school students. Beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year, students from noncertified schools may qualify for supplemental awards based on ACT scores, AP exams, International Baccalaureate exams, and Cambridge Advanced International exams if they demonstrate financial need under KHEAA criteria. The measure retains existing KEES provisions for public-school students and other eligible students, while updating definitions and cross-references throughout the statute to incorporate the new noncertified-school category.
HB249 would amend KRS 164.7874, 164.7879, 164.7881, and 164.7884 to broaden KEES eligibility and award calculations, creating a new statutory pathway for students in noncertified Kentucky nonpublic secondary schools to earn and use scholarship benefits. It would also require KHEAA to promulgate administrative regulations for reporting, application, eligibility, and award administration, and it would affect how scholarship amounts are calculated for students using AP, IB, Cambridge, dual credit, apprenticeship, workforce training, proprietary school, and art-and-design pathways. In practical terms, the bill would expand the pool of students eligible for state scholarship support and impose new administrative duties on KHEAA and participating institutions.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes in the provided materials, the overall sentiment appears policy-driven and expansionary rather than adversarial. The bill is framed as a scholarship-access measure, with a focus on extending KEES benefits to additional student populations and aligning awards with alternative academic credentials and workforce pathways. No formal opposition or support statements are available in the supplied record.
The main policy issue raised by the bill is whether KEES, which has historically been tied to Kentucky-certified high school pathways, should be extended to students in noncertified private, parochial, and church schools. Potential points of contention include the use of an “equivalent GPA” based on dual credit and standardized exams rather than traditional high school grading, the addition of financial-need criteria for some supplemental awards, and the administrative burden on KHEAA to verify eligibility and calculate awards for a broader and more diverse set of students. Supporters would likely emphasize expanded educational choice and fairness for noncertified-school students, while critics may question cost, oversight, and whether the new eligibility rules dilute the original structure of the scholarship program.