GROW PA: POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION AND CAREER PREPARATION PLAN IS NOW LAW!
As young people in Pennsylvania increasingly seek education and job opportunities in other states, our Commonwealth faces significant economic and demographic challenges in the years ahead.
Act 89 of 2024 – the Grow PA Post-Secondary Education and Career Preparation Plan – will help reverse these trends and help more young people stay in Pennsylvania to pursue high-demand careers, while limiting the cost of post-secondary education and job training programs. As a result, we will strengthen our workforce and make Pennsylvania much more competitive in attracting the best and brightest students to put down roots in our communities.
Grow PA Changes Our Approach to Higher Education, Career Preparation
The Grow PA plan makes education more affordable and accessible for students who pursue high-demand careers in Pennsylvania. The law creates new programs to recruit the best talent to Pennsylvania schools in industries that will grow Pennsylvania’s economy, while also expanding existing financial assistance programs that are already working.
Grow PA will help address the needs of students, families and the workforce and set Pennsylvania on a brighter course.
What Does Grow PA Do?
-Creates the Grow PA Scholarship Grant Program, which offers grants of up to $5,000 per year for in-state students who attend college in Pennsylvania, pursue a degree in a high-demand industry, and agree to live and work in that industry in Pennsylvania after graduation. Grant recipients would be required to live and work in Pennsylvania for at least 12 months for each year they accept the grant. Failure to meet this requirement would result in the grants being converted to a loan that must be repaid.
-Creates the Grow PA Merit Scholarship Program, which will help attract high-performing out-of-state students to Pennsylvania educational programs in Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) schools. The merit scholarships would allow students pursuing in-demand occupations to pay tuition at in-state rates, rather than out-of-state rates. Like the scholarship program for in-state students, merit scholarship recipients would be required to live and work in Pennsylvania after graduation, or have the scholarships converted to loans.
-Expands the popular Ready to Succeed Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships to good students to cover the cost of post-secondary education. The law increases household income limits from $126,000 to $175,000 and allows students with at least a 2.5 GPA to qualify, making more students eligible for assistance.
-Makes historic investments in Career and Technical Education, with an additional $25 million made available for these programs in the 2024-25 state budget, along with an additional $5 million for equipment grants. The new funding ensures the state’s workforce is ready to tackle the challenges facing the global economy in the years ahead.
Learn more about the initial development of Grow PA here.
