H. B. 2395
(By Delegate Fragale)
[Introduced February 7, 1995; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article ten, chapter
eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to limiting the
higher education fees charged to part-time, commuting
graduate students; specifically providing exemptions from
student activity fees; and extending such students a
participation and payment option that is prorated to actual
credit hours being taken.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article ten, chapter eighteen-b of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. FEES AND OTHER MONEY COLLECTED AT STATE INSTITUTIONS
OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
§18B-10-1. Enrollment, tuition and other fees at educational
institutions; refund of fees.
(a) Each governing board shall fix tuition and other fees
for each school term for the different classes or categories of
students enrolling at each state institution of higher education
under its jurisdiction and may include among such fees any one
or more of the following: (1) Health service fees; (2) infirmary
fees; (3) student activities, recreational, athletic and
extracurricular fees, which said fees may be used to finance a
student's attorney to perform legal services for students in
civil matters at such institutions: Provided, That such legal
services shall be limited to only those types of cases, programs
or services approved by the administrative head of such
institution where such legal services are to be performed; and
(4) graduate center fees and branch college fees, or either, if
the establishment and operations of graduate centers or branch
colleges are otherwise authorized by law. All fees collected at
any graduate center or at any branch college shall be paid into
special funds and shall be used solely for the maintenance and
operation of the graduate center or branch college at which they
were collected: Provided, however, That the governing boards
shall use the median of the average tuition and required fees at
similarly classified institutions in member states of the
southern regional education board as a goal in establishing
tuition and required fee levels for residents at state institutions of higher education under their jurisdiction:
Provided further, That the governing boards shall use the actual
instructional cost as the same shall be determined in accordance
with board rule, in establishing nonresident undergraduate fees,
with the goal of having tuition and fees cover the actual cost by
fiscal year one thousand nine hundred ninety-six: And provided
further, That students enrolled in undergraduate courses offered
at off-campus locations shall pay an off-campus instruction fee
and shall not pay the athletic fee and the student activity fee.
The off-campus instruction fee shall be used solely for the
support of off-campus courses offered by the institution.
Off-campus locations for each institution shall be defined by the
appropriate governing board. The schedule of all fees, and any
changes therein, shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting
of the appropriate governing board, and the board shall file with
the legislative auditor a certified copy of such schedule and
changes.
(b) In addition to the fees mentioned in the preceding
paragraph, each governing board may impose and collect a student
union building fee. All such building fees collected at an
institution shall be paid into a special student union building
fund for such institution, which is hereby created in the state
treasury, and shall be used only for the construction, operation
and maintenance of a student union building or a combination student union and dining hall building or for the payment of the
principal of and interest on any bond issued to finance part or
all of the construction of a student union building or a
combination student union and dining hall building or the
renovation of an existing structure for use as a student union
building or a combination student union and dining hall building,
all as more fully provided in section ten of this article. Any
moneys in such funds not immediately needed for such purposes may
be invested in any such bonds or other securities as are now or
hereafter authorized as proper investments for state funds.
(c) The boards shall establish the rates to be charged
full-time students enrolled during a regular academic term. For
fee purposes a full-time undergraduate student shall be one
enrolled for twelve or more credit hours in a regular term, and
a full-time graduate student shall be one enrolled for nine or
more credit hours in a regular term. Undergraduate students
taking fewer than twelve credit hours in a regular term shall
have their fees reduced pro rata based upon one twelfth of the
full-time rate per credit hour. Part-time, commuting graduate
students, or those taking less than nine credit hours in a
regular term, shall not be required to pay student activity fees
supporting athletic, recreational, transportation or other
extracurricular services or activities: Provided, That such
part-time, commuting graduate students may choose to participate in such activities or utilize such services and graduate students
taking fewer than nine credit hours in a regular term shall have
their these and other allowable fees reduced pro rata based upon
one ninth of the full-time rate per credit hour.
Fees for students enrolled in summer terms or other
nontraditional time periods shall be prorated based upon the
number of credit hours for which the student enrolls in
accordance with the above provisions.
(d) All fees are due and payable by the student upon
enrollment and registration for classes except as provided for in
this subsection:
(1) The governing boards shall permit fee payments to be
made in up to three installments over the course of the academic
term. The payments shall include interest at a rate set by the
governing board: Provided, That all fees must be paid prior to
the awarding of course credit at the end of the academic term.
(2) The governing boards shall also authorize the acceptance
of credit cards or other payment methods which may be generally
available to students for the payment of fees: Provided, That
the governing boards may charge the students for the reasonable
and customary charges incurred in accepting credit cards and
other methods of payment.
(3) If a governing board determines that any student was
adversely, financially affected by a legal work stoppage that commenced on or after the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-three, it may allow the student an additional six
months to pay the fees for any academic term: Provided, That the
governing board shall determine if a student was adversely,
financially affected on a case-by-case basis.
(e) The governing boards shall establish legislative rules
regarding the refund of any fees upon the voluntary or
involuntary withdrawal from classes of any student which rules
shall comply with all applicable state and federal laws and shall
be uniformly applied throughout the systems.
(f) The governing boards shall establish legislative rules
using the fee structure or other penalties to provide a
disincentive for students to register for classes in excess of
the typical full-time course load, that being from twelve to
eighteen credit hours for an undergraduate student and from nine
to fifteen credit hours for a graduate student, and then to
withdraw from such excess classes after the semester has begun.
(g) In addition to the fees mentioned in the preceding
subsections, each governing board may impose, collect and
distribute a fee to be used to finance a nonprofit,
student-controlled public interest research group: Provided,
That the students at such institution demonstrate support for
the increased fee in a manner and method established by that
institution's elected student government: Provided, however, That such fees shall not be used to finance litigation against
the institution.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt part-time,
commuting graduate students at higher education institutions
from being charged student activity fees, particularly those that
finance athletic contests and student transportation. Such
students, however, may choose to participate in such activities
or services by paying the fees which are to be reduced pro rata
according to the number of credit hours they are taking during a
regular term.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.