HB148 - Fostering Hope Scholarship Act of 2015

• Establishes the Fostering Hope Scholarship program administered by the Department of Human Resources to provide tuition and fee assistance for current and former foster children, including those adopted from foster care at age 14 or older, beginning with the 2016-2017 academic year.

• Covers tuition and mandatory fees at public two-year and four-year institutions of higher education, or job training courses and skill certifications at public institutions or publicly funded training programs, subject to department approval.

• Limits scholarship benefits to 72 academic hours toward an associate's degree or 144 academic hours toward a bachelor's degree for undergraduate studies only.

• Requires program participants to meet eligibility criteria including being in foster care at high school graduation, having net personal assets under $30,000, being under age 26, and completing FAFSA and applying for all available federal student aid before receiving scholarships.

• Establishes a mentor support system funded from program appropriations, with mentor service costs limited to a maximum of 10 percent of annual appropriations, and allows the department to limit scholarship awards based on available funding.

• Repeals Section 40-18-362, Code of Alabama 1975 from Act 2014-413.