BILL NUMBER: AB 2297 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 8, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Brownley
FEBRUARY 18, 2010
An act to amend Section 76140 of the Education Code, relating to
community colleges.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2297, as amended, Brownley. Community colleges: nonresident
fees.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges
under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges. Existing law also authorizes the establishment of
community college districts, and further authorizes the operation,
by these districts, of community college campuses that offer
instructional services throughout the state.
Existing law requires a community college district to charge a
nonresident tuition fee to nonresident students, with certain
exceptions. Existing law requires the fee to be set according to one
of 4 formulas, one of which divides the expense of education in all
districts by the number of full-time equivalent students, as defined,
attending all districts in the preceding fiscal year.
This bill would provide that if the amount calculated by this
formula for the succeeding fiscal year is less than a specified
amount, then the district is authorized to set the nonresident
tuition fee at a specified amount.
(2) Existing law requires the governing board of a community
college district to consider nonresident tuition fees of public
community colleges in other states when adopting a tuition fee for
nonresident students.
This bill would delete the requirement that the governing
board of a community college district consider nonresident tuition
fees of public community colleges in other states, and instead
authorize the governing board to adopt a nonresident tuition fee that
is no greater than the average of the nonresident tuition fees of
public community colleges of no less than 12 states with comparable
cost of living, as defined.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 76140 of the Education Code is amended to read:
76140. (a) A community college district may admit and shall
charge a tuition fee to nonresident students. The district may exempt
from all or parts of the fee any person described in paragraph (1),
(2), or (3):
(1) All nonresidents who enroll for six or fewer units. Exemptions
made pursuant to this paragraph shall not be made on an individual
basis.
(2) Any nonresident who is both a citizen and resident of a
foreign country, if the nonresident has demonstrated a financial need
for the exemption. Not more than 10 percent of the nonresident
foreign students attending any community college district may be so
exempted. Exemptions made pursuant to this paragraph may be made on
an individual basis.
(3) (A) A student who, as of August 29, 2005, was enrolled, or
admitted with an intention to enroll, in the fall term of the 2005-06
academic year in a regionally accredited institution of higher
education in Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi, and who could not
continue his or her attendance at that institution as a direct
consequence of damage sustained by that institution as a result of
Hurricane Katrina.
(B) The chancellor shall develop guidelines for the implementation
of this paragraph. These guidelines shall include standards for
appropriate documentation of student eligibility to the extent
feasible.
(C) This paragraph shall apply only to the 2005-06 academic year.
(b) A district may contract with a state, a county contiguous to
California, the federal government, or a foreign country, or an
agency thereof, for payment of all or a part of a nonresident student'
s tuition fee.
(c) Nonresident students shall not be reported as full-time
equivalent students (FTES) for state apportionment purposes, except
as provided by subdivision (k) or another statute, in which case a
nonresident tuition fee may not be charged.
(d) The nonresident tuition fee shall be set by the governing
board of each community college district not later than February 1 of
each year for the succeeding fiscal year. The governing board of
each community college district shall provide nonresident students
with notice of nonresident tuition fee changes during the spring term
before the fall term in which the change will take effect.
Nonresident tuition fee increases shall be gradual, moderate, and
predictable. The fee may be paid in installments, as determined by
the governing board of the district.
(e) The fee established by the governing board pursuant to
subdivision (d) shall represent for nonresident students enrolled in
30 semester units or 45 quarter units of credit per fiscal year
(1) the one or more of the following:
(1) The amount that was expended
by the district for the expense of education as defined by the
California Community College Budget and Accounting Manual in the
preceding fiscal year increased by the projected percent increase in
the United States Consumer Price Index as determined by the
Department of Finance for the current fiscal year and succeeding
fiscal year and divided by the FTES (including nonresident students)
attending in the district in the preceding fiscal year, (2)
the year. However, if for the district's preceding
fiscal year FTES of all students attending in the district in
noncredit courses is equal to, or greater than, 10 percent of the
district's total FTES attending in the district, the district may
substitute the data for expense of education in grades 13 and 14 and
FTES in grades 13 and 14 attending in the district.
(2) The expense of
education in the preceding fiscal year of all districts increased by
the projected percent increase in the United States Consumer Price
Index as determined by the Department of Finance for the fiscal year
and succeeding fiscal year and divided by the FTES (including
nonresident students) attending all districts during the preceding
fiscal year, (3) an year. However, if the
amount calculated under this paragraph for the succeeding fiscal year
is less than the amount established for the current fiscal year or
for any of the past four fiscal years, the district may set the
nonresident tuition fee at the greater of the current or any of the
past four-year amounts.
(3) An amount not to
exceed the fee established by the governing board of any contiguous
district, or (4) an district.
(4) An amount not to exceed the
amount that was expended by the district for the expense of
education, but in no case less than the statewide average as set
forth in paragraph (2). However, if for the district's
preceding fiscal year FTES of all students attending in the district
in noncredit courses is equal to, or greater than, 10 percent of the
district's total FTES attending in the district, the district, in
calculating the amount in paragraph (1), may substitute, instead, the
data for expense of education in grades 13 and 14 and FTES in grades
13 and 14 attending in the district. If the amount calculated under
paragraph (2) for the succeeding fiscal year is less than the amount
previously established under paragraph (2) for the current fiscal
year, or any of the four immediately preceding fiscal years, the
district may set the nonresident tuition fee at the greater of the
current, or any of the four immediately preceding, fiscal year
amounts. forth in paragraph (2).
(5) An amount no greater than the average of the nonresident
tuition fees of public community colleges of no less than 12 states
that are comparable to California in cost of living. The
determination of comparable states shall be based on a composite
cost-of-living index as determined by the United States Department of
Labor or a cooperating government agency.
(f) The governing board of each community college district also
shall adopt a tuition fee per unit of credit for nonresident students
enrolled in more or less than 15 units of credit per term by
dividing the fee determined in subdivision (e) by 30 for colleges
operating on the semester system and 45 for colleges operating on the
quarter system and rounding to the nearest whole dollar. The same
rate shall be uniformly charged nonresident students attending any
terms or sessions maintained by the community college. The rate
charged shall be the rate established for the fiscal year in which
the term or session ends.
(g) In adopting a tuition fee for nonresident students, the
governing board of each community college district shall consider
nonresident tuition fees of public community colleges in other
states. Notwithstanding subdivision (e), the governing board of a
community college district may adopt a nonresident tuition fee that
is no greater than the average of the nonresident tuition fees of
public community colleges of no less than 12 states that are
comparable to California in cost-of-living. The determination of
comparable states shall be based on a composite cost of living index
as determined by the United States Department of Labor, or
cooperating government agency.
(h)
(g) Any loss in district revenue generated by the
nonresident tuition fee shall not be offset by additional state
funding.
(i)
(h) Any district that has fewer than 1,500 FTES and
whose boundary is within 10 miles of another state that has a
reciprocity agreement with California governing student attendance
and fees may exempt students from that state from the mandatory fee
requirement described in subdivision (a) for nonresident students.
(j)
(i) Any district that has more than 1,500, but less
than 3,001, FTES and whose boundary is within 10 miles of another
state that has a reciprocity agreement with California governing
student attendance and fees may, in any one fiscal year, exempt up to
100 FTES from that state from the mandatory fee requirement
described in subdivision (a) for nonresident students.
(k)
(j) The attendance of nonresident students who are
exempted pursuant to subdivision (i) or (j)
(h) or (i) , or pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a),
from the mandatory fee requirement described in subdivision (a) for
nonresident students may be reported as resident FTES for state
apportionment purposes. Any nonresident student reported as resident
FTES for state apportionment purposes pursuant to subdivision
(i) or (j) (h) or (i) shall pay a fee
of forty-two dollars ($42) per course unit. That fee is to be
included in the FTES adjustments described in Section 76330 for
purposes of computing apportionments.