Sen. Dahm files bill amending OHLAP requirements

OKLAHOMA CITY – Sen. Nathan Dahm, R-Broken Arrow, filed Senate Bill 1274 on Thursday, to amend eligibility requirements for the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Program (OHLAP).

“OHLAP is intended to provide students from low- and middle-income families with financial help to pay for college,” Dahm said. “There are some basic eligibility requirements, but the statute unfairly places additional requirements on homeschool and non-accredited private school students.”

According to the current statute, homeschool and non-accredited private school students must score a 22 or higher ACT composite score in order to qualify, while public school students are not required to take the ACT to be eligible.

“There is no reason to single out homeschool and non-accredited private school students,” Dahm said. “Do these students typically struggle with academic performance issues? Are they less deserving of aid than public school students? Absolutely not.”

The bill would amend the eligibility requirements by adding the same testing component for public school students. All applicants would be required to score a 22 or higher ACT composite score to be eligible.

 “Rather than unfairly singling out homeschool and non-accredited private school students for extra testing requirements, this bill would implement testing for all OHLAP applicants,” Dahm said.  “This could ensure some base level of competency for all students who apply for financial help through OHLAP, while eliminating a blatant form of discrimination against homeschool and non-accredited private school students.”

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For more information, contact:  Sen. Nathan Dahm, 405-521-5551 or Nathan.Dahm@oksenate.gov.