(1) “Corporation” means the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation.

(2) “Home company” means the volunteer organization which submits the initial application nominating one of their active members for a volunteer recruitment service scholarship.

(3) “Host company” means the volunteer fire or ambulance company which allows a scholarship recipient to volunteer at their organization upon written agreement with the home company.

(4) “Scholarship” means the tuition benefit awarded under the Volunteer Recruitment Service Scholarships as codified in section 669-c of the education law.

(1) Applications for the volunteer recruitment service scholarships shall be postmarked or electronically transmitted no later than May 1st of each year, provided that this deadline may be extended at the discretion of the corporation;

(2) Applications shall be filed annually on forms prescribed by the corporation; and

(3) The pool of applicants shall be those who have successfully met the filing deadline.

(1) The amount of the scholarship award shall be determined in accordance with section 669-c of the Education Law.

(2) Disbursements shall be made each semester and pro-rated by credit hour.

(3) Scholarship awards shall be reduced by the value of any other scholarships and grants, except that nothing shall require the value of such scholarships and grants applicable to the costs of attendance, other than tuition to reduce the amount of the Volunteer Service Scholarship.

(1) returning applicants shall be given priority pursuant to paragraph (e) of subdivision (3) of section 669-c of the education law;

(2) remaining applicants shall be chosen by random selection. Random selection shall be conducted by lottery which shall be the preferred manner of tie breaking.

(1) The applicant, or recipient, shall offer his services to a host company whose service area includes the school where the student is enrolled.

(2) If the offer is accepted by the host company, the eligible applicant or recipient may be entitled to award payments for attendance at that school only if the home company, the host company, and the recipient enter into an agreement on forms prescribed by the corporation.

This statement is being submitted pursuant to sections 102(9), 202(4-a), and 202-a(6) of the State Administrative Procedure Act and in support of New York State Higher Education Services Corporation's (HESC) Notice of Adoption adding new section 2201.11 to Title 8 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York with a non-substantial revision to the text of the rule.

The proposed rule implements the Volunteer Recruitment Service Scholarship which provides college scholarships to eligible volunteer fire and emergency responders in New York State.

A non-substantial revision has been made to the text of the proposed rule by changing the scholarship application deadline to May 1 from August 1. The application deadline appeared once in the original RIS, but in none of the other regulatory documents. Thus, HESC is filing this Revised Regulatory Impact Statement along with the Notice of Adoption.

HESC did not receive any official public comments in response to the State Register announcement of this proposed rule. However, after HESC filed the Notice of Proposed Rule Making for this proposal, it became aware of issues faced by colleges and students regarding delays in payments due to the application deadline of August 1. For students attending in the fall term, the August 1 deadline did not leave the colleges enough time to package a scholarship recipient's financial aid in a timely manner and, as such, a recipient's scholarship monies were delayed as a result. Accordingly, the deadline has been changed from August 1 to May 1.

This change will not adversely impact any of the regulated parties. Although the deadline will be moved from August to May, the applications for the new deadline will be mailed in January rather than March. Therefore, applicants will still have ample time to receive notification and apply for the scholarship. Furthermore, the regulation allows the President to extend the application deadline. As such, it is unlikely that applicants will miss the new deadline. Also, by moving the deadline to an earlier date, applicants and their schools will be eligible to receive payment earlier than presently allowed and, as such, colleges will be able to package a recipient's financial aid in a timely manner.

This statement is being submitted pursuant to subdivision (3) of section 202-b of the State Administrative Procedure Act and in support of New York State Higher Education Services Corporation's (HESC) Notice of Adoption seeking to add new section 2201.11 to Title 8 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York.

The proposed rule administers the Volunteer Recruitment Service Scholarship which provides college scholarships to volunteer fire and emergency responders in New York State.

A non-substantial change has been made to the text of the proposed rule changing the scholarship application deadline to May 1 from August 1 for the Fall semester. Upon review of the regulatory statements submitted with the proposal, the changes made to the last published rule do not necessitate revision to the previously published JIS, RFA and RFA.

The agency received no public comment.