AN ACT to clarify accreditation REQUIREMENTS for bennett college for the need‑based Scholarships for Students Attending Private Institutions of Higher Education.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 116‑280(3) reads as rewritten:

(3)      Eligible private postsecondary institution. – A school that is any of the following:

a.         A nonprofit postsecondary educational institution with a main permanent campus located in this State that is not owned or operated by the State of North Carolina or by an agency or political subdivision of the State or by any combination thereof that satisfies all of the following:

1.         Is either (i) accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools under the standards of the College Delegate Assembly of the Association Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) or by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges through its Commission on Institutions of Higher Education.Education or (ii) was accredited by SACSCOC on January 1, 2021, and, beginning January 1, 2021, was a member of the Transnational Association of Christian Colleges and Schools.

2.         Awards a postsecondary degree as defined in G.S. 116‑15.

b.         A postsecondary institution owned or operated by a hospital authority as defined in G.S. 131E‑16(14) or school of nursing affiliated with a nonprofit postsecondary educational institution as defined in sub‑subdivision a. of this subsection.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with scholarships awarded for the 2021‑2022 academic year.