BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 13
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Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 13 (Chavez and Quirk-Silva) - As Amended: March 11, 2013
Policy Committee: Higher
EducationVote:13-0
Veterans Affairs 10-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill deletes the requirement that a student who served in
the Armed Forces must have been stationed in California at least
one year immediately prior to receiving an honorable discharge
in order to be exempt from paying non-resident tuition at the
California Community Colleges (CCC), the California State
University (CSU), and the University of California (UC).
FISCAL EFFECT
The bill will result in revenue losses to each of the segments.
1)UC enrolled 958 undergraduate veterans in 2011-12. UC
indicates that 27 of these student veterans paid non-resident
tuition. The additional cost of non-resident tuition for these
students is $22,878. In the first year after this bill is
enacted, these students would be eligible for in-state
tuition, yielding a revenue loss of $617,000. Thereafter, it
is assumed that each cohort of first-year students would
benefit from this bill. Assuming five first-year students each
year, the annual revenue loss would be $115,000. Regarding
graduate students, UC indicates that 61 of 245 student
veterans paid non-resident tuition in 2011-12, at an
additional cost of between $12,245 and $15,102. Revenue losses
associated with these students would be between $747,000 and
$921,000 in the first year, and assuming 20 new qualifying
graduate students annually, would be $245,000 to $302,000 in
subsequent years.
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2)CSU enrolled 6,938 veterans in fall 2012. The additional cost
of non-resident tuition at CSU is $11,160. CSU indicates that
92 veterans were paying non-resident tuition. In the first
year after this bill is enacted, these students would be
eligible for in-state tuition, yielding a revenue loss of $1
million. Thereafter, it is assumed that each cohort of
first-year students would benefit from this bill. Assuming 18
first-year students each year, the annual revenue loss would
be around $200,000.
3)The CCC enrolled about 44,700 veterans in 2010-11. The
difference between resident and non-resident fees at the CCC
is $144 per unit. For a full-time student (30 units in an
academic year) the additional fee revenue to the CCC is
$4,000. The number of these veterans currently paying
non-resident fees is unknown, but is believed to be quite low.
For every 100 full-time equivalent non-resident student
veterans who are able to benefit from this bill, the annual
revenue loss would be $432,000.
The assumptions above are probably low, as this benefit would,
over time, attract more non-resident veterans to California's
public colleges and universities. According to the author, 19
other states have a similar policy. Federal legislation has
been introduced in both the House and the Senate to require
institutions that are eligible for Post 9/11 G.I. Bill
benefits to charge any veteran the resident tuition rate.
COMMENTS
1)Background . Current law establishes the requirements for
determining residency in order to qualify for paying the
lower-cost in-state tuition and student fees at UC, CSU, and
CCC. To qualify for the California resident fees, students are
generally required to have resided in the state for more than
one year immediately preceding the residence determination
date and undertake other specified actions such as registering
to vote or registering one's car in California.
The Post 9/11 GI Bill will only pay the resident tuition cost
for a student, thus to use this benefit, out-of-state student
veterans are currently faced with the choice of waiting to
establish residency before enrolling in school or finding
another source of funds (including from out of pocket) to
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cover the difference between resident and non-resident
tuition. Current law does allow students who were on active
duty in California for at least one year immediately prior to
their discharge to pay in-state tuition and fees. In order to
receive this benefit, CCC students must file an affidavit with
their community college stating their intent to establish
California residency as soon as possible.
2)Purpose . According to the author, the difference between
resident and nonresident tuition is a significant financial
barrier for veterans from other states who wish to attend a
California public institution directly after discharge and
before they have had the opportunity to establish residency.
3)Prior Legislation . Two similar bills-AB 2250 (Gaines) of 2012
and AB 2472 (Wyland) of 2006-were both held on this
committee's Suspense File.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081