Tennessee Senate Bill SB1291

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/6/25
• Chaptered: 5/8/25
• Passed: 5/8/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 49, Chapter 4, Part 10, relative to tuition assistance for members of the Tennessee national guard.

Summary

SB1291 revises Tennessee’s tuition assistance program for members of the Tennessee National Guard. The bill updates how the state pays public educational institutions on behalf of eligible Guard members by requiring payment of 100% of maximum resident in-state tuition, plus certain undergraduate course fees or master’s degree program fees as determined annually by the Department of Military. It also requires the department to publish the annual fee-payment policy on its website by August 1 for the upcoming academic year. The bill makes several eligibility and administration changes to the tuition reimbursement program. It bars reimbursement for members who are suspended from federal tuition assistance because of academic performance or recoupment, raises the credit-hour cap from 120 to 130 semester hours, removes the prior eight-semester limit, and requires applications for reimbursement to be submitted within 45 days after course completion. It also repeals Tennessee Code Annotated § 49-4-1008, which indicates a substantive cleanup or removal of a now-unneeded provision in the program.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated Title 49, Chapter 4, Part 10, affecting the state’s National Guard tuition assistance and reimbursement statutes. It expands the scope of reimbursable costs beyond tuition to include certain fees, changes eligibility and timing rules for reimbursement, and eliminates one statutory section entirely. These changes primarily affect National Guard members seeking higher education benefits, public colleges and universities that receive payments, and the Department of Military, which must set and publish annual payment policies.

Sentiment

The available voting history shows strong support and no recorded opposition in committee, with unanimous 9-0 votes in both the Senate Education Committee and the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee. The bill’s progression suggests broad agreement that the tuition assistance program should be updated and clarified for National Guard members. No committee transcript was provided, so there is no evidence of significant debate in the materials supplied.

Contention

No major contention is reflected in the provided record. The only potentially sensitive policy choices are the expansion of covered fees, the increase in the semester-hour limit, and the new 45-day filing deadline, but the committee votes indicate these changes were not controversial in committee. The bill also adds a disqualification for members suspended from federal tuition assistance, which could affect some applicants, but no opposition to that provision is shown in the available materials.