Current law requires HEAB to facilitate a contract between the state and a private, nonprofit dental school for dental education services. The contract must incorporate certain requirements, including that the dental school make every effort to ensure that at least 5 percent of its total enrollment consists of minority students.

The bill repeals this requirement.

Current law requires the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System to fund programs for minority and disadvantaged students enrolled in the UW System and programs to recruit minority and disadvantaged students. The Board of Regents must also adopt a recruitment and retention plan for minority and disadvantaged students.

Current law requires the Board of Regents to establish a grant program for minority and disadvantaged graduate students enrolled in the UW System.

The bill modifies these provisions to delete reference to the minority status of students so they apply only to disadvantaged students. The bill also specifies that, in determining whether a student is disadvantaged, the student’s race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or religion may not be considered, either directly or indirectly. This prohibition applies to the UW System for all purposes for which it determines whether a student is disadvantaged.

Current law requires the Board of Regents to establish a grant program for minority undergraduates enrolled in the UW System. The grants are known as Lawton grants. A “minority undergraduate” is defined as an undergraduate student who is a Black American; an American Indian; a Hispanic; or Hmong.

The bill changes the Lawton grant program so that Lawton grants are awarded to disadvantaged undergraduate students rather than minority undergraduate students.

Current law requires the Technical College System Board to develop a plan to increase minority group member participation and retention in the Technical College System. The plan must include certain information, including a review of the progress made by the TCS Board and technical colleges in the previous school year. A “minority group member” is defined as a Black, a Hispanic, an American Indian, an Eskimo, an Aleut, a native Hawaiian, an Asian-Indian, or a person of Asian-Pacific origin.

The bill modifies this requirement so that it applies with respect to disadvantaged students rather than minority group members. The bill also specifies that, in determining whether a student is disadvantaged, the student’s race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or religion may not be considered, either directly or indirectly. This prohibition applies to the TCS Board and technical colleges for all purposes for which they determine whether a student is disadvantaged.

Under current law, the TCS Board, upon application by a technical college, may award a grant to the technical college to accomplish specified purposes relating to minority students, including the following: providing counseling and tutoring services for minority students; pursuing innovative approaches to increasing minority student placement and retention in programs that lead to a high earning potential; providing internships to minority students preparing for transfer to UW System teacher education programs; and recruiting, training, and retaining minority students through the use of community-based organizations. A “minority student” is defined as a student enrolled in a technical college who is a minority group member, as defined above.

The bill changes this grant program so that grants are awarded for programs related to disadvantaged students rather than minority students.

Under current law, the TCS Board awards incentive grants to technical colleges for specified purposes. One such purpose is the creation or expansion of adult high school, adult basic education, and English as a second language courses. The TCS Board must give priority to courses serving students with disabilities or minority, unemployed, or disadvantaged students.

The bill eliminates the priority for courses serving minority students but does not affect the priority for courses serving students with disabilities or unemployed or disadvantaged students.

AB554,,6636.25 (14) Graduate student financial aid. The board shall establish a grant program for minority and disadvantaged graduate students enrolled in the system. The board shall give preference in awarding grants under this subsection to residents of this state. The board may not make a grant under this subsection to a person whose name appears on the statewide support lien docket under s. 49.854 (2) (b), unless the person provides to the board a payment agreement that has been approved by the county child support agency under s. 59.53 (5) and that is consistent with rules promulgated under s. 49.858 (2) (a).