LARAMIE – A state program providing free tuition to veterans and their families could be reduced during the Wyoming Legislature’s upcoming budget session beginning Feb. 12.
The Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee further considered a proposed bill that would amend the program during a callback meeting with the Community College Commission on Monday.
Jim Rose, the commission’s executive director, said by limiting eligibility to first-time degree seekers and limiting the length of eligibility from 10 to eight semesters, Wyoming could save money at a time when the state is strapped for cash.
“The program has been one that’s transitioned as one that was initially envisioned as a fairly low-cost incentive to provide assistance to veterans to something that is now exceeding over $1 million in biennial funding because of the popularity the program had,” he said.
The program reimburses the University of Wyoming and the community colleges for waiving the tuition of veterans, their spouses and their dependents. Between all eight state institutions of higher education, the program provided tuition for 162 people during the fall 2015 semester and 165 people during the 2016 spring semester, according to the latest annual report produced by the Community College Commission.
The bill, Senate File 36, has already been endorsed by the Joint Transportation and Military Affairs Committee and would amend the original 2006 legislation.

Rose said a task force convened to address the program’s rising costs found many participants were seeking pricier degrees in pharmacy or law, which were often additional two- and four-year degrees beyond their first.
“We really need to make sure this is a benefit to individuals, spouses and dependents, but in a way, that does not have consequences in terms of an eventual cost that really can’t be sustained,” he said, adding the commission was pleased at the success of the programs and the number of Wyomingites who benefitted from it.
“But, it also has a consequence and frankly, a cost that was not anticipated when legislation was first drafted,” he said.
Wyoming’s seven community colleges are currently requesting $1.23 million in appropriations to support the program. Rose said he anticipates the constraints in Senate File 36, if approved, could see that request drop closer to $1 million in coming years.
“We don’t know what impact that’s going to have,” he said. “But our estimates from the data we have suggest that over the period of a couple years, it stands to benefit the state a couple hundred thousand dollars plus or minus and then over time sustain itself (as) a lower-cost program.”
The original legislation calls for a “pro rata,” or proportional reduction for all participants in the program if costs exceed the allocated funds. Rose said such a reduction had never been required.
Rose and the committee also briefly discussed community college enrollment, which is generally flat, and the role the community college system can play in economic diversification.
“A couple of years ago, we were experiencing rather significant declines and now that’s really stabilized,” Rose said. “I think one thing we recognize in the slightly diminished high school population … our future in terms of the services we provide can’t be reliant solely on high school students. We really have to serve our adult population.”
He added economic diversification will require attracting and serving populations outside the traditional pool of recent high school graduates.
“We’ve advocated for the state to address some form of state-funded need-based aid beyond Hathaway,” Rose said. “So, for all those individuals who are working full-time and cannot enter college as a full-time enrolled student, how do we help them?”