NH State Budget Info

Increases funding for charter schools

Charter school funding increases under this budget by $250 per student in FY18 and $375 per student in FY19.

Establishes the dual and concurrent enrollment program

This program means that courses taught at a high school by teachers approved by the Community College System of NH, or instructors from the CCSNH, in which students earn high school and/or college credit while they are still enrolled in a high school or career technical education center. It appropriates $850,000 in FY18 and $950,000 in FY19 out of the Governor’s Scholarship Fund, which will provide up to $250 per STEM related course.

This program assures all NH 11th and 12th grade students the opportunity to enroll in and complete quality post-secondary college credit in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses regardless of where students live in NH and at no cost to the student.

Eligible high school students participating in approved high school classes taught by a public school teacher will receive high school graduation credit and college credit simultaneously.

Level funding of the University System of NH

In this budget, the University System of NH is level funded, which means they will receive the same amount of funding as they did in the ‘16-’17 FY Budget. This money does not solely go to UNH, but also Granite State College, Keene State, and Plymouth State, etc.

When the state allocates money in their budget to USNH, it can only be spent on two things through the colleges: offset tuitions for in-state students and to support statutory programs, such as the NH Cooperative Extension.

The funds appropriated to USNH do not cover projects such as buildings, stadiums, scoreboards, or tables.

Those are funded through the colleges’ own fundraising efforts. In the case of some projects, such as academic buildings, they are funded through the NH capital budget (HB25.)

Increases funding to our Community College System

This budget increases the funding for the Community College System. It provides approximately $96 million over the biennium for the Community College System of New Hampshire, an increase of $7.3 million over the current biennium.

Establishes the Governor’s Scholarship Program

This budget establishes the Governor’s Scholarship Program which appropriates $5 million over the biennium to scholarships for the benefit of eligible residents of the state who are pursuing programs of study or training at a postsecondary educational institution or training program within the state. This scholarship program is designed to keep graduating high school students in the state.

Additional highlights:

• Fully funds adequacy
• Provides approximately $45 million to school districts over the biennium in special education aid (formerly catastrophic aid)
• Provides $14.8 million in career and technical education (CTE) tuition and transportation aid to school districts.
• Creates a new Robotics Education Development Program and provides $375,000 in grants to public schools for establishment a robotics team and participation on competitive events.
• Full-day kindergarten is not part of either budget bill. That is a separate bill (SB191) that the House will vote on this Thursday.

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House Republican Office

New Hampshire House of Representatives

State House Room 313, Concord, NH 03301