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provide for the South Dakota Freedom Scholarship, make an appropriation therefor, and declare an emergency.

South Dakota is creating a new needs-based scholarship program called the South Dakota Freedom Scholarship and appropriating $1 million to fund an endowment managed by the South Dakota Community Foundation. The scholarships will be available to students attending eligible South Dakota institutions, including four-year universities, community colleges, technical schools, and other postsecondary education programs. This establishes a new funding source to help South Dakota students afford higher education based on financial need.

establish resident tuition requirements for veterans and armed forces personnel and family members.

This bill expands who qualifies for resident tuition rates at South Dakota colleges and universities by adding active duty armed forces members stationed in the state and their spouses or children, while also simplifying the rules for veterans' families. Previously, only veterans could automatically get resident tuition without meeting the standard twelve-month residency requirement; now active duty military members and their family members get the same benefit if they are stationed in South Dakota. The bill also eliminates a separate law that previously addressed armed forces personnel tuition rates.

establish a nonbeneficiary student scholarship program for certain students attending tribally controlled colleges and to make an appropriation therefor.

# HB 1180 Summary South Dakota will create a new scholarship program for students who are not tribal members but attend tribally controlled colleges in the state. The bill provides state funding to support these scholarships, making higher education more affordable for non-Native students at tribal institutions.

provide free tuition and fees to visually impaired residents for courses not subsidized by the state general fund.

South Dakota residents who are visually impaired will receive free tuition and fees at state institutions when taking courses that aren't already funded by the state general fund. This change expands educational access for visually impaired South Dakotans by removing financial barriers to these specific educational programs.

Supporting the value of public higher education in South Dakota and encouraging continued efforts to ensure that higher education remains affordable for all South Dakotans.

SCR 605 is a resolution expressing South Dakota's support for the value of public higher education and calling for efforts to keep college affordable for state residents. This is a statement of legislative intent rather than a law change—it doesn't modify existing statutes but instead urges continued commitment to making higher education accessible and affordable across South Dakota.

authorize certain children who are subject to a military relocation to be eligible for registration with a state-approved distance learning provider.

Children whose parents are ordered to relocate to a military base in South Dakota can now enroll in state-approved distance learning programs immediately when the military transfer order is issued, rather than waiting until after the move is complete. This allows families to maintain educational continuity during their relocation by having the receiving school district register them with an approved online provider as soon as the transfer order takes effect.