Authority: Title 23.1, Chapter 21, Code of Virginia.

A. This Item includes general and nongeneral fund appropriations to support institutional initiatives that help meet statewide goals described in the Restructured Higher Education Financial and Administrative Operations Act of 2005 (Chapters 933 and 945, 2005 Acts of Assembly).

B. As Virginia's public colleges and universities approach full funding of the base adequacy guidelines and as the General Assembly strives to fully fund the general fund share of the base adequacy guidelines, these funds are provided with the intent that, in exercising their authority to set tuition and fees, the Board of Visitors shall take into consideration the impact of escalating college costs for Virginia students and families. In accordance with the cost-sharing goals set forth in § 4-2.01 b. of this act, the Board of Visitors is encouraged to limit increases on tuition and mandatory educational and general fees for in-state, undergraduate students to the extent possible.

C. 1. Out of this appropriation, $1,028,460 the first year and $1,028,460 the second year from the general fund is designated to address increased degree production in Data Science and Technology, Science and Engineering, Healthcare, and Education.

2. Degree production shall be measured for Bachelors, Masters, Doctorates and First Professional awards as follows:

a. Data Science and Technology awards shall be based on completion data contained in the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, C-16 completion report;

b. Science and Engineering awards shall be based on completion data contained in the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV), C-1 A1 completion report for the following programs Biological and Biomedical Science (26), Engineering (14) less those already counted in paragraph 2 a., Engineering Technologies (15), and Physical Sciences (40);

c. Healthcare awards shall be based on completion data contained in the SCHEV C-1 A1 completion report for the Health Professions and Related Programs (51); and

d. Education awards shall be based on completion data contained in the SCHEV C-1 A1 completion report for the Education Programs (13).

3. Radford University is expected to maintain increases in:

a. Data Science and Technology awards of 5 annually over the base year.

b. Science and Engineering awards of 5 annually over the base year.

c. Healthcare awards of 10 annually over the base year.

d. Education awards of 10 annually over the base year.

e. The 2016-17 year will serve as the base year for these purposes.

4. SCHEV shall report on the progress toward these goals to the Chairs of the House Appropriations and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committees annually.

5. Out of the amounts designated for degree production $300,000 the first year and $300,000 the second year is designated to support a flat-fee degree initiative for education programs. Radford University shall offer alternative tuition or fee structures, including discounted tuition, flat tuition rates, discounted student fees, or student fee and student services flexibility, to any first-time, incoming freshman undergraduate student who (i) has established domicile, as that term is defined in § 23.1-500 et seq., in the Commonwealth and (ii) enrolls full time with the intent to earn a degree in a program that leads to employment as a teacher in the region. Such an alternative tuition or fee structure may be renewed each year if the recipient maintains continuous full-time enrollment. If a recipient fails to maintain continuous full-time enrollment, subsequently enrolls in a noneligible degree program, or fails to complete the eligible degree program within four years, the institution shall convert the financial benefit received by the student to a financial obligation payable by the student to the institution on terms established by the institution.