Mapp administration sent free UVI tuition proposal to Legislature

The Mapp administration said on September 12, 2018, that legislation creating a scholarship program for free tuition at the University of the Virgin Islands had been sent to the Legislature.

Under the proposal, graduates of any public or private high school in the U.S. Virgin Islands would be eligible to apply for up to four years of tuition at UVI beginning in the fall of 2019. The program would cover full tuition for students pursuing associate or bachelor’s degrees in any course of study offered by the university.

The proposed V.I. Workforce Development Scholarship Program would be administered by UVI. Eligibility criteria included graduating from a Virgin Islands high school and agreeing to work in the territory for at least one year for every two years of free tuition received.

The bill called for an annual appropriation of $3 million from the Internal Revenue Matching Fund beginning in fiscal year 2019. UVI would be allowed to use up to 8% of the appropriated funds for administrative costs.

In a letter transmitting the bill to Senate President Myron Jackson, Gov. Kenneth E. Mapp said the measure was intended to reduce college costs for Virgin Islands families and help develop the territory’s workforce after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Official source: https://www.vi.gov/governors-plan-for-free-uvi-tuition-forwarded-to-the-legislature-program-will-help-strengthen-territorys-workforce/