Amended in Assembly September 3, 2013

Amended in Assembly August 8, 2013

Amended in Senate May 8, 2013

Amended in Senate April 25, 2013

Amended in Senate April 11, 2013

Amended in Senate March 12, 2013

Senate Bill No. 141

Introduced by Senator Correa

(Principal coauthor: Senator Leno)

(Coauthors: Senators Cannella, Evans, Hernandez, Lara, and Steinberg)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Ammiano, Garcia, and Wieckowski)

January 29, 2013

An act to amend Sections 76140 and 89705 of the Education Code, relating to postsecondary education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 141, as amended, Correa. Postsecondary education benefits: children of deported or voluntarily departed parents.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, and the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, as the 3 segments of public higher education in the state. Existing law exempts specified students from paying nonresident tuition at the California Community Colleges and the California State University.

This bill would additionally exempt a student who is a United States citizen who resides in a foreign country, and who meets all of the following requirements, from nonresident tuition at the California Community Colleges and the California State University: (A) demonstrates financial need for the exemption; (B) has a parent who has been deported or was permitted to depart voluntarily; (C) moved abroad as a result of that deportation or voluntary departure; (D) lived in California immediately before moving abroad; (E) attended a public or private secondary school in the state for 3 or more years; and (F) upon enrollment, will be in his or her first academic year as a matriculated student in California public higher education, as defined, will be living in California, and will file an affidavit with the institution stating that he or she intends to establish residency in California as soon as possible. The bill would request the regents to enact regulations and procedures to exempt similarly situated students of the University of California from nonresident tuition.

(2) To the extent the provisions of this bill would place additional requirements on community college districts regarding the provision of postsecondary education benefits to additional categories of students, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) It is estimated that over 5 million children are currently living
in the United States with at least one undocumented immigrant
parent. Approximately 75 percent of these children are United
States citizens, and many of them are from California.

(b) When one or both parents are deported, these citizen children
often have no recourse but to leave the country. At no fault of their
own, these children lose their schools, friends, and the place they
have come to know as “home.”

(c) As a result of moving abroad, there is a break in these
children’s presence in California, affecting their ability in later
years to attend a California public college or university at the much
lower resident prices.

(d) Today, these children, who are American citizens, are
growing up outside the United States, yet their desire to return to
their birth home continues to live within them. These children lack
many basic services granted to most United States citizens.

(e) The State of California has an interest in ensuring that these
children can access and afford a high-quality education.

SEC. 2.  

Section 76140 of the Education Code, as added by
Section 66 of Chapter 38 of the Statutes of 2012, is amended to
read:

76140.  

(a) A community college district may admit, and shall
charge a tuition fee to, nonresident students, except that a
community college district may exempt from all or parts of the
fee any person described in paragraph (1), (2), or (3), and shall
exempt from all of the fee any person described in paragraph (4):

(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.

(4) A nonresident student who is a United States citizen who
resides in a foreign country, if that nonresident meets all of the
following requirements:

(A) Demonstrates a financial need for the exemption.

(B) Has a parent or guardian who has been deported or was
permitted to depart voluntarily under the federal Immigration and
Nationality Act in accordance with Section 1229c of Title 8 of the
United States Code. The student shall provide documents from the
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services evidencing
the deportation or voluntary departure of his or her parent or
guardian.

(C) Moved abroad as a result of the deportation or voluntary
departure specified in subparagraph (B).

(D) Lived in California immediately before moving abroad. The
student shall provide information and evidence that demonstrates
the student previously lived in California.

(E) Attended a public or private secondary school, as described
in Sections 52 and 53, in the state for three or more years. begin insert The
student shall provide documents that demonstrate his or her
secondary school attendance. end insert

(F) Upon enrollment, will be in his or her first academic year
as a matriculated student in California public higher education, as
that term is defined in subdivision (a) of Section 66010, will be
living in California, and will file an affidavit with the institution
stating that he or she intends to establish residency in California
as soon as possible.

(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 (j) 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) (1) 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
one or more of the following:

(A) 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. 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.

(B) 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. 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.

(C) An amount not to exceed the fee established by the
governing board of any contiguous district.

(D) 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 subparagraph (B).

(E) 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.

(2) The additional revenue generated by the increased
nonresident tuition permitted under the amendments made to this
subdivision during the 2009-10 Regular Session shall be used to
expand and enhance services to resident students. In no event shall
the admission of nonresident students come at the expense of
resident enrollment.

(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) Any loss in district revenue generated by the nonresident
tuition fee shall not be offset by additional state funding.

(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.

(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.

(j) The attendance of nonresident students who are exempted
pursuant to subdivision (h) or (i), or pursuant to paragraph (3) or
(4) 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 (h) or (i) shall
pay a per unit fee that is three times the amount of the fee
established for residents pursuant to Section 76300. That fee is to
be included in the FTES adjustments described in Section 76300
for purposes of computing apportionments.

SEC. 3.  

Section 89705 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

89705.  

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (c), and as
otherwise specially provided, an admission fee and rate of tuition
fixed by the trustees shall be required of each nonresident student.
The rate of tuition to be paid by each nonresident student, as
defined in Section 68018, shall not be less than three hundred sixty
dollars ($360) per year. The rate of tuition paid by each nonresident
student who is a citizen and resident of a foreign country and not
a citizen of the United States, except as otherwise specifically
provided, shall be fixed by the trustees and shall not be less than
three hundred sixty dollars ($360) per year.

(b) The trustees may waive entirely, or reduce below the rate,
or the minimum rate, fixed by this section, the tuition fee of a
nonresident student who is a citizen and resident of a foreign
country and not a citizen of the United States and who attends a
state university or college under an agreement entered into by a
governmental agency or a nonprofit corporation or organization
with a similar agency, or corporation or association, domiciled in
and organized under laws of a foreign country, where a principal
purpose of the agreement is to encourage the exchange of students
with the view of enhancing international good will and
understanding. The trustees shall, in each instance, determine
whether the conditions for this exemption from fees exist and may
prescribe appropriate procedures to be complied with in obtaining
the exemption.

(c) The trustees shall waive entirely the admission fee and rate
of tuition fixed under this section for a nonresident student who
is a United States citizen who resides in a foreign country, if that
nonresident meets all of the following requirements:

(1) Demonstrates a financial need for the exemption.

(2) Has a parent or guardian who has been deported or was
permitted to depart voluntarily under the federal Immigration and
Nationality Act in accordance with Section 1229c of Title 8 of the
United States Code. The student shall provide documents from the
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services evidencing
the deportation or voluntary departure of his or her parent or
guardian.

(3) Moved abroad as a result of the deportation or voluntary
departure specified in paragraph (2).

(4) Lived in California immediately before moving abroad. The
student shall provide information and evidence that demonstrates
the student previously lived in California.

(5) Attended a public or private secondary school, as described
in Sections 52 and 53, in the state for three or more years. begin insert The
student shall provide documents that demonstrate his or her
secondary school attendance. end insert

(6) Upon enrollment, will be in his or her first academic year
as a matriculated student in California public higher education, as
that term is defined in subdivision (a) of Section 66010, will be
living in California, and will file an affidavit with the institution
stating that he or she intends to establish residency in California
as soon as possible.

SEC. 4.  

The Legislature requests the Regents of the University
of California to enact regulations and procedures that exempt from
nonresident tuition students of that university who meet the
requirements applicable to students of the California Community
Colleges and the California State University, respectively, in
paragraph (4) of subdivision (a) of Section 76140, and subdivision
(c) of Section 89705, of the Education Code.

SEC. 5.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.