The Virginia Senate unanimously passed a bill Tuesday which would create the Community College Transfer Grant Program Fund, according to the General Assembly's legislative database.
The fund will permit students who graduate from community colleges to go on to four-year, in-state colleges and universities and continue paying the same tuition that they had paid at their former schools. It would also allow these students to receive state financial aid at an in-state private institution equivalent to the average tuition at a state school.
The bill has yet to be considered by the House of Delegates, according to a representative for Del. Harvey Morgan.
"I think there's a lot of support for it in both houses," Del. David Toscano, D-Charlottesville, said.
However, the bill, proposed by Sen. Walter Stosch, R-Henrico, currently lacks any direct instrument for funding such a program, said Russ Potts, chairman of the Senate Education and Health Committee, which recommended the bill Jan. 26.
"That's the whole key," Potts said. "It has on it 'the [appropriation] clause' which means we have to find the available funds. The biggest competition any program has is transportation."
Glen Dubois, chancellor of the Virginia Community College System, said the system introduced the idea to the General Assembly because it will help many more students go to four-year institutions for their bachelor's degrees.
"A working-class family is going to see it as very attractive way to get to a four-year college and save a lot of money," Dubois said.
Presently, the Virginia Community College System has over 300,000 students enrolled.
"About a third of our students will seek transfer after graduating," Dubois said.
However, he noted that many students do not graduate from the community college system and instead simply transfer with credit to other four-year schools -- an option which will not be covered by this bill.
"You've got to stick it out," Dubois added.
In 2004-2005, the University of Virginia took 188 transfers from VCCS, of which 41 percent held associate's degrees, said Clorisa Phillips, associate provost for institutional advancement.
Phillips said the bill reflects a larger "restructuring" initiative which is currently going on within the Commonwealth's higher education infrastructure.
Third-year College student James Winlack, who transferred to the University from Northern Virginia Community College with two associate's degrees, felt that the bill was a positive step and that it would "encourage people to go on and complete their bachelor's."
-Maggie Thornton contributed to this article.
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