Higher Education Tuition and Fees (language only)

Item 4-2.01 #2s

Language
Page 448, strike lines 38 through 49.
Page 449, strike lines 1 through 42.
Page 449, line 42, insert:
"1. All nongeneral fund collections by public institutions of higher education, including collections from the sale of dairy and farm products, shall be deposited in the state treasury in accordance with § 2.2-1802, Code of Virginia, and expended by the institutions of higher education in accordance with the appropriations and provisions of this act, provided, however, that this requirement shall not apply to private gifts, endowment funds, or income derived from endowments and gifts.
2.a) Financial support provided to the Commonwealth's institutions of higher education is predicated primarily upon the fulfillment by such institutions of their mission to provide educational opportunities to the citizens of the Commonwealth. The presence of students from outside the Commonwealth contributes materially to that mission and the appropriate proportion of such nonresident students will vary among the institutions according to their respective missions. Each institution and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall monitor tuition, fees, and other charges, as well as the mix of resident and nonresident students, to ensure that the primary mission of providing educational opportunities to citizens of Virginia is served. The State Council of Higher Education shall report to the Governor and the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees no later than August 1 of each year on the annual change in total charges for tuition and all required fees approved and allotted by the Board of Visitors in support of the institutions’ educational and general programs.  As it deems appropriate, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall provide comparative national, peer, and market data with respect to charges assessed students for tuition and required fees at institutions outside of the Commonwealth.  Further, in coordination with the institutions, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall report no later than August 1 of each year on the estimated amount of revenue each institution expects to collect from tuition and mandatory educational and general fees during the fiscal year.
b) The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall also develop and enforce uniform guidelines for reporting student enrollments and the domiciliary status of students.
3. The Board of Visitors or other governing body of each public institution of higher education shall set tuition, fees, and other student charges within the limits of the nongeneral fund appropriation provided for each institution’s educational and general programs within this act.
4.a) In setting the general and nongeneral fund appropriations for educational and general programs at each institution, it is the intent of the General Assembly, over a period of up to six years, to provide full funding of the base adequacy guidelines adopted, and periodically amended, by the Joint Subcommittee Studying Higher Education Funding Policies; to begin raising average salaries for teaching and research faculty to the 60th percentile of peer institutions nationally; and to recognize the student share of cost for other priorities set forth in this act.
b) Further, it is the intent of the General Assembly that the Commonwealth support at least 67 percent of the cost of education for all resident students attending a public college or university in the Commonwealth and that tuition and mandatory educational and general fee rates for nonresident undergraduate and graduate students shall be at least 100 percent of the average cost of their education, as calculated by the Joint Subcommittee’s funding guidelines.
c) For institutions charging nonresident students less than 100 percent of the cost of education as identified by the funding guidelines referenced in subparagraph a), the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia may authorize a phased approach to meeting this requirement, when in its judgment, it would result in annual tuition and fee increases for nonresident students that would discourage their enrollment.  
d) Nonresident graduate students employed by an institution as graduate teaching or research assistants and paid at an annual contract rate of $4,000 or more may be considered resident students for the purposes of charging tuition and fees.
e) By October 1, 2005, the State Council of Higher Education shall prepare a report on nonresident tuition waivers, including how waivers contribute to institutions’ ability to attract and retain research funding and the extent to which nonresident students receiving waivers stay and work in Virginia upon graduation.  The Department of Taxation and the Virginia Employment Commission shall work with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to provide appropriate unit record data to support these analyses.
5.  In setting undergraduate tuition and fee increases, the Boards of Visitors or other governing bodies shall consider the feasibility of setting aside a portion of the tuition increase to provide additional financial aid resources, in combination with state, federal and private resources to students who demonstrate financial need.
6. The fund source "Higher Education Operating" within educational and general programs for institutions of higher education includes tuition and fee revenues from nonresident students to pay their proportionate share of the amortized cost of the construction of buildings approved by the Commonwealth of Virginia Educational Institutions Bond Act of 1992 and the Commonwealth of Virginia Educational Facilities Bond Act of 2002.
7. Institutions of higher education are hereby authorized to make the technology service fee authorized in Chapter 1042, 2003 Acts of Assembly, part of ongoing tuition revenue. Such revenues shall continue to be used to supplement technology resources at the institutions of higher education.
8.a) The governing boards of the institutions of higher education shall seek cost savings in areas supported by non-educational and general fees such that the total cost of higher education be kept as low as possible. Mandatory fees for purposes other than educational and general programs shall not be increased for Virginia undergraduates beyond five percent annually, excluding requirements for wage, salary, and fringe benefit increases, authorized by the General Assembly. Fee increases required to carry out actions that respond to mandates of federal agencies are also exempt from this provision, provided that a report on the purposes of the amount of the fee increase is submitted to the Chairmen of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees by the institution of higher education at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the fee increase.  
b) This restriction shall not apply in the following instances:  fee increases directly related to capital projects authorized by the General Assembly; fee increases to support student health services; and other fee increases specifically authorized by the General Assembly.
c) Due to the small mandatory non-educational and general program fees currently assessed students in the Virginia Community College System, increases in any one year of no more than $15 shall be allowed on a cost-justified case-by-case basis, subject to approval by the State Board for Community Colleges.  
9.a) At the request of an institution of higher education, the Director, Department of Planning and Budget, shall administratively appropriate and allot increases in nongeneral fund revenues appropriated in this act from all sources except tuition and fees used in support of Educational and General program.  
b) To the extent an institution seeks to increase tuition and fee revenue for use within the educational and general programs above the levels specified in this act, the Department of Planning and Budget may administratively appropriate and allot increases up to one percent of the appropriated amounts without review and certification by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.
c) For requested increases above one percent of the appropriated levels identified in this act, institutions shall seek certification from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia prior to approval by the Director, Department of Planning and Budget.
d) The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall review and certify that the request for additional revenue is needed as the result of higher than anticipated enrollments, a change in the mix of student enrollments, an increase in revenue from self-supporting non-credit or for-credit education or training programs, legislatively approved programmatic funding requirements identified in this act, or appropriate technical adjustments.  
e) The Director, Department of Planning and Budget, shall administratively appropriate and allot the increases certified by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, provided that the additional revenue is applied solely to the operating needs of the educational and general programs and that the request for additional nongeneral fund budget authority is consistent with budget items adopted in this act.
10. It is the intent of the General Assembly that any institution of higher education granting new tuition waivers to resident or nonresident students not authorized by the Code of Virginia must absorb the cost of any discretionary waivers.
11.  The entitlement to resident tuition charges referenced in § 23-7.4:2 A (iii), Code of Virginia, shall be suspended through June 30, 2006.
12. Tuition and fee revenues from nonresident students taking courses through Virginia institutions from the Southern Regional Education Board's Southern Regional Electronic Campus must exceed all direct and indirect costs of providing instruction to those students. Tuition and fee rates to meet this requirement shall be established by the Board of Visitors of the institution.
13. The entitlement to resident charges, at four-year institutions, shall not extend beyond 125 percent of the credit hours needed to satisfy the degree requirements for a particular undergraduate program excluding transfer or advanced placement credits.  Resident students taking in excess of 125 percent of the credit hours needed to satisfy the degree requirements for a particular program shall not be eligible to receive awards through state-sponsored financial aid programs.  The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia shall establish procedures through which institutions shall implement this provision."

Explanation
(This amendment replaces the existing general provisions for higher education tuition and fees and provides the Boards of Visitors with authority to set tuition levels within the nongeneral fund appropriation provided in the Act.)