AN ACT Relating to accredited foreign branch
campuses; amending RCW 23B.15.010, 24.03.305, and 82.04.170; adding a new
section to chapter 23B.15 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 24.03 RCW;
adding a new section to chapter 28B.85 RCW; adding a new section to chapter
50.04 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 51.12 RCW; adding a new section to
chapter 82.04 RCW; and adding a new chapter to Title 28B RCW.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.
The legislature finds that it has previously declared in RCW 28B.107.005 that
it is important to the economic future of the state to promote international
awareness and understanding, and in RCW 1.20.100 and 28A.630.300, that the
state's economy and economic well-being depends heavily on foreign trade and
international exchange.
The legislature finds that it is appropriate
that such policies should be implemented by encouraging universities and
colleges domiciled in foreign countries to establish branch campuses in
Washington and that it is also important to those foreign colleges and
universities that their status as authorized foreign degree-granting
institutions be recognized by this state to facilitate the establishment and
operation of such branch campuses.
In the furtherance of such policy, the
legislature adopts the foreign degree-granting institution approved branch
campus act.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.
Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section
apply throughout this chapter.
(1) "Degree" means any designation,
appellation, certificate, letters or words including, but not limited to,
"associate," "bachelor," "masters,"
"doctorate," or "fellow" that signifies, or purports to
signify, satisfactory and successful completion of requirements of a
postsecondary academic program of study.
(2) "Foreign degree-granting
institution" means a public or private college or university, either
profit or nonprofit:
(a) That is domiciled in a foreign country;
(b) That offers in its country of domicile
credentials, instruction, or services prerequisite to the obtaining of an
academic or professional degree granted by such college or university; and
(c) That is authorized under the laws or
regulations of its country of domicile to operate a degree-granting institution
in that country.
(3) "Approved branch campus" means a
foreign degree-granting institution's branch campus that has been approved by
the higher education coordinating board to operate in the state.
(4) "Branch campus" means an
educational facility located in the state that:
(a) Is either owned and operated directly by a
foreign degree-granting institution or indirectly through a Washington profit
or nonprofit corporation in which the foreign degree-granting institution is
the sole or controlling shareholder or member; and
(b) Provides courses solely and exclusively to
students enrolled in a degree-granting program offered by the foreign
degree-granting institution who:
(i) Have received academic credit for courses
of study completed at the foreign degree-granting institution in its country of
domicile;
(ii) Will receive academic credit towards their
degree from the foreign degree-granting institution for the courses of study
completed at the educational facility in the state; and
(iii) Will return to the foreign degree-granting
institution in its country of domicile for completion of their degree-granting
program or receipt of their degree.
(5) "Board" means the higher
education coordinating board.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A
foreign degree-granting institution that submits evidence satisfactory to the
board of its authorized status in its country of domicile and its intent to
establish an educational facility in the state is entitled to operate a branch
campus in the state. Upon receipt of the satisfactory evidence, the board
shall certify that the branch campus of the foreign degree-granting institution
is approved to operate in the state under this chapter, for as long as the
foreign degree-granting institution retains its authorized status in its
country of domicile.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A
branch campus of a foreign degree-granting institution previously found by the
board to be exempt from chapter 28B.85 RCW may continue to operate in the
state. However, within one year of the effective date of this section, the
institution shall provide evidence of authorization as required under section 3
of this act. Upon receipt of the satisfactory evidence, the board shall
certify that the branch campus of the foreign degree-granting institution is
approved to operate in the state under this chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A
new section is added to chapter 23B.15 RCW to read as follows:
In addition to those acts that are specified in
RCW 23B.15.010(2), a foreign degree-granting institution that establishes an
approved branch campus in the state under chapter 28B.-- RCW (sections 1
through 4 of this act) shall not be deemed to transact business in the state
solely because it:
(1) Owns and controls an incorporated branch
campus in this state;
(2) Pays the expenses of tuition, or room and
board charged by the incorporated branch campus for its students enrolled at
the branch campus or contributes to the capital thereof; or
(3) Provides personnel who furnish assistance
and counsel to its students while in the state but who have no authority to
enter into any transactions for or on behalf of the foreign degree-granting
institution.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A
new section is added to chapter 24.03 RCW to read as follows:
In addition to those acts that are specified in
RCW 24.03.305 (1) through (11), a foreign degree-granting institution that
establishes an approved branch campus in the state under chapter 28B.-- RCW
(sections 1 through 4 of this act) shall not be deemed to transact business in
the state solely because it:
(1) Owns and controls an incorporated branch
campus in this state;
(2) Pays the expenses of tuition, or room and
board charged by the incorporated branch campus for its students enrolled at
the branch campus or contributes to the capital thereof; or
(3) Provides personnel who furnish assistance
and counsel to its students while in the state but who have no authority to
enter into any transactions for or on behalf of the foreign degree-granting
institution.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A
new section is added to chapter 28B.85 RCW to read as follows:
This chapter shall not apply to any approved
branch campus of a foreign degree-granting institution in compliance with
chapter 28B.-- RCW (sections 1 through 4 of this act).
NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. A
new section is added to chapter 50.04 RCW to read as follows:
The services of employees of a foreign
degree-granting institution who are nonimmigrant aliens under the immigration
laws of the United States, shall, for the purposes of RCW 50.04.120, be
considered to be localized or principally localized, in the country of domicile
of the foreign degree-granting institution as defined in section 2 of this act
in those instances where the income of those employees would be exempt from
taxation by virtue of the terms and provisions of any treaty between the United
States and the country of domicile of the foreign degree-granting institution.
However, a foreign degree-granting institution is not precluded from otherwise
establishing that a nonimmigrant employee's services are, for the purpose of
such statutes, principally located in its country of domicile.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. A
new section is added to chapter 51.12 RCW to read as follows:
The services of employees of a foreign
degree-granting institution who are nonimmigrant aliens under the immigration
laws of the United States, shall, for the purposes of RCW 51.12.120, be
considered to be localized or principally localized, in the country of domicile
of the foreign degree-granting institution as defined in section 2 of this act
in those instances where the income of those employees would be exempt from
taxation by virtue of the terms and provisions of any treaty between the United
States and the country of domicile of the foreign degree-granting institution.
However, a foreign degree-granting institution is not precluded from otherwise
establishing that a nonimmigrant employee's services are, for the purpose of
such statutes, principally located in its country of domicile.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. A
new section is added to chapter 82.04 RCW to read as follows:
An approved branch campus of a foreign
degree-granting institution in compliance with chapter 28B.--- RCW (sections 1
through 4 of this act) is considered an educational institution for the purpose
of the deduction of tuition fees provided by RCW 82.04.170 in those instances
where it is recognized as an organization exempt from income taxes pursuant to
26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c).
Sec. 11.
RCW 23B.15.010 and 1990 c 178 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Unless it is otherwise authorized to
transact business pursuant to a state or federal statute, a foreign corporation
may not transact business in this state until it obtains a certificate of
authority from the secretary of state.
(2) The following activities, among others, do
not constitute transacting business within the meaning of subsection (1) of
this section:
(a) Maintaining or defending any action or suit
or any administrative or arbitration proceeding, or effecting the settlement
thereof or the settlement of claims or disputes;
(b) Holding meetings of the board of directors
or shareholders or carrying on other activities concerning internal corporate
affairs;
(c) Maintaining bank accounts, share accounts
in savings and loan associations, custodian or agency arrangements with a bank
or trust company, or stock or bond brokerage accounts;
(d) Maintaining offices or agencies for the
transfer, exchange, and registration of the corporation's own securities or
maintaining trustees or depositaries with respect to those securities;
(e) Selling through independent contractors;
(f) Soliciting or procuring orders, whether by
mail or through employees or agents or otherwise, where the orders require
acceptance outside this state before becoming binding contracts and where the contracts
do not involve any local performance other than delivery and installation;
(g) Making loans or creating or acquiring
evidences of debt, mortgages, or liens on real or personal property, or
recording same;
(h) Securing or collecting debts or enforcing
mortgages and security interests in property securing the debts;
(i) Owning, without more, real or personal
property;
(j) Conducting an isolated transaction that is
completed within thirty days and that is not one in the course of repeated
transactions of a like nature;
(k) Transacting business in interstate
commerce; ((or))
(l) Owning and controlling a subsidiary
corporation incorporated in or transacting business within this state; or
(m) Operating an approved branch campus of a
foreign degree-granting institution in compliance with chapter 28B.-- RCW
(sections 1 through 4 of this act) and in accordance with section 5 of this act.
(3) The list of activities in subsection (2) of
this section is not exhaustive.
Sec. 12.
RCW 24.03.305 and 1986 c 240 s 43 are each amended to read as follows:
No foreign corporation shall have the right to
conduct affairs in this state until it shall have procured a certificate of authority
so to do from the secretary of state. No foreign corporation shall be entitled
to procure a certificate of authority under this chapter to conduct in this
state any affairs which a corporation organized under this chapter is not
permitted to conduct. A foreign corporation shall not be denied a certificate
of authority by reason of the fact that the laws of the state or country under
which such corporation is organized governing its organization and internal
affairs differ from the laws of this state, and nothing in this chapter
contained shall be construed to authorize this state to regulate the
organization or the internal affairs of such corporation.
Without excluding other activities which may
not constitute conducting affairs in this state, a foreign corporation shall
not be considered to be conducting affairs in this state, for the purposes of
this chapter, by reason of carrying on in this state any one or more of the
following activities:
(1) Maintaining or defending any action or suit
or any administrative or arbitration proceeding, or effecting the settlement
thereof or the settlement of claims or disputes.
(2) Holding meetings of its directors or
members or carrying on other activities concerning its internal affairs.
(3) Maintaining bank accounts.
(4) Creating evidences of debt, mortgages or
liens on real or personal property.
(5) Securing or collecting debts due to it or
enforcing any rights in property securing the same.
(6) Effecting sales through independent
contractors.
(7) Soliciting or procuring orders, whether by
mail or through employees or agents or otherwise, where such orders require
acceptance without this state before becoming binding contracts.
(8) Creating as borrower or lender, or
acquiring, indebtedness or mortgages or other security interests in real or
personal property.
(9) Securing or collecting debts or enforcing
any rights in property securing the same.
(10) Transacting any business in interstate
commerce.
(11) Conducting an isolated transaction
completed within a period of thirty days and not in the course of a number of
repeated transactions of like nature.
(12) Operating an approved branch campus of
a foreign degree-granting institution in compliance with chapter 28B.-- RCW
(sections 1 through 4 of this act) and in accordance with section 6 of this
act.
Sec. 13.
RCW 82.04.170 and 1992 c 206 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
"Tuition fee" includes library,
laboratory, health service and other special fees, and amounts charged for room
and board by an educational institution when the property or service for which
such charges are made is furnished exclusively to the students or faculty of
such institution. "Educational institution," as used in this
section, means only those institutions created or generally accredited as such
by the state, or an approved branch campus of a foreign degree-granting
institution in compliance with chapter 28B.-- RCW (sections 1 through 4 of this
act), and in accordance with section 10 of this act or defined as a degree-granting
institution under RCW 28B.85.010(3) and accredited by an accrediting
association recognized by the United States secretary of education, and
offering to students an educational program of a general academic nature or those
institutions which are not operated for profit and which are privately endowed
under a deed of trust to offer instruction in trade, industry, and agriculture,
but not including specialty schools, business colleges, other trade schools, or
similar institutions.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 14.
Sections 1 through 4 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 28B
RCW.
