Senate Bill No. 571
(By Senator Deem)
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[Introduced February 17, 2003; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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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 tuition and fees;
and authorizing each higher education governing board to
charge extra tuition to students attending more than full-time
as the term is redefined.
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 education
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,
except as otherwise provided in this
section, may include among
such the fees any one or more of the
following:
(1) Health service fees;
(2) Infirmary fees;
(3) Student activities, recreational, athletic and
extracurricular fees, which fees may be used to finance a student's
attorney to perform legal services for students in civil matters at
such state institutions
of higher education: Provided, That
such
the legal services
shall be are limited only to those types of
cases, programs or services approved by the administrative head of
such the institution where
such the 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.
(b) All fees collected at any graduate center or at any branch
college
shall must
be paid into special funds and
shall must
be
used solely for the maintenance and operation of the graduate
center or branch college at which they were collected. Provided,
That The commission shall set tuition and fee goals for residents
at each institution after examining tuition and fees at the
institutions' peers. Provided, however, That, effective the first day of July, two thousand one, Tuition and fees for nonresident,
undergraduate students shall at a minimum must cover, at a minimum,
actual instructional costs as determined in accordance with
commission policy. 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.
(c) The off-campus instruction fee
shall must
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 in the schedule,
shall must
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 the schedule and changes.
(d) In addition to the other fees mentioned in the preceding
paragraph authorized by this section, each governing board may
impose and collect a student union building fee. All such
union building fees collected at an institution
shall must
be paid
into a special student union building fund for such the
institution, which is hereby created in the state treasury, and
shall must
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 the funds not
needed immediately for such the purposes set forth in this
subsection may be invested in any such bonds or other securities as
are now or hereafter authorized as proper investments for state
funds.
(e) The boards shall establish the rates to be charged
full-time students enrolled during a regular academic term.
(1) For fee purposes, except as otherwise provided in this
subdivision, a full-time undergraduate student is one enrolled for
twelve or more credit hours in a regular term, and a full-time
graduate student is one enrolled for nine or more credit hours in
a regular term. For governing boards authorizing the increase set
forth in subdivision (3) of this subsection, a full-time
undergraduate student, for fee purposes, is one enrolled for at
least twelve but not more than sixteen credit hours in a regular
term, and a full-time graduate student is one enrolled for at least
nine but not more than twelve credit hours in a regular term.
(2) 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, and
graduate students taking fewer than nine credit hours in a regular term shall have their fees reduced pro rata based upon one ninth of
the full-time rate per credit hour.
(3) Undergraduate students taking more than sixteen hours in
a regular term may have their fees increased pro rata based upon
one twelfth of the full-time rate per credit hour, and the graduate
students taking more than twelve hours in a regular term may have
their fees increased pro rata based upon one ninth of the full-time
rate per credit hour. The increases authorized by this subdivision
are subject to the discretion of the governing board.
(3) (4) Fees for students enrolled in summer terms or other
nontraditional time periods
shall must
be prorated based upon the
number of credit hours for which the student enrolls in accordance
with the above provisions.
(f) 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.
Provided, That If the fee payments are made in installments, all
fees must be paid prior to the awarding of course credit at the end
of the academic term.
(2) The governing boards also shall 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 the finances of any
student were affected adversely 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 on a case-by-case basis if the
finances of a student were affected adversely.
(g) On or before the first day of July, two thousand one, the
chancellor for higher education shall review policy series
twenty-two of the governing boards, related to assessment, payment
and refund of fees and determine whether a new rule should be
adopted regarding the refund of any fees upon the voluntary or
involuntary withdrawal from classes of any student. The rules
shall must
with all applicable state and federal laws and
shall
must
be uniformly applied throughout the system.
(h) In addition to the fees mentioned authorized in the
preceding subsections, if the students at an institution
demonstrate support for an increased fee to finance a nonprofit,
student-controlled public interest research group in a manner and
method established by the institution's elected student government,
each the governing board of the institution may impose, collect and
distribute a fee to be used to finance a nonprofit,
student-controlled public interest research group for that purpose. 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 These fees
shall may
not be used to finance litigation against
the institution.
(i) Any proposed fee increase which would become effective
during the transition year beginning on the first day of July, two
thousand, and ending on the thirtieth day of June, two thousand
one, and which has been approved by the governing board, shall then
be submitted by the governing board to the secretary for education
and the arts for approval. Such approval shall be granted only
upon the certification that such institution requesting a fee
increase is in compliance with the strategic plans required to be
submitted, pursuant to section one-b, article one of this chapter.
Notice, in the form of a report, shall be provided by the
chancellor to the legislative oversight commission on education
accountability describing such fee increases and showing how such
increases compare with the average tuition and fees charged at
comparable peer institutions in member states of the southern
regional education board.
(j) Effective the first day of July, two thousand one, tuition
and fees rates shall be determined in accordance with subsections
(k), (l) and (m) of this section.
(k) Effective the first day of July, two thousand one,
Institutions shall retain tuition and fee revenues not pledged for bonded indebtedness or other purposes in accordance with a revised
tuition policy adopted by the respective governing boards and
approved by the commission. The revised tuition policy shall:
(1) Provide a basis for establishing nonresident tuition and
fees;
(2) Allow institutions to charge different tuition and fees
for different programs; and
(3) Establish methodology, where applicable, to ensure that,
within the appropriate time period under the compact, community and
technical college tuition rates for community and technical college
students in all independently accredited community and technical
colleges will be commensurate with the tuition and fees charged by
their peer institutions.
(l) No penalty shall may be imposed by the commission upon any
institution based upon the number of nonresidents who attend the
institution unless the commission determines that admission of
nonresidents to any institution or program of study within the
institution is impeding unreasonably the ability of the resident
students to attend the institution or participate in the programs
of the institution. The institutions shall report annually to the
commission on the numbers of out-of-state residents and such other
enrollment information as the commission may request.
(m) Tuition and fee increases of the governing boards are
subject to rules adopted by the commission pursuant to subsection
(a), section four, article one-b of this chapter.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize each higher
education governing board to increase fees of students attending
more than full-time as the term is redefined in the bill.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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