1109 AMS HIE S2679

1109 AMS HIE S2679.2

HB 1109 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Higher Education

Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 28B.80 RCW to read as follows:

The state of Washington is confronted with providing higher education for an additional eighty-four thousand students by the year 2010. This requires that all possible methods of delivering higher education be considered. This includes technology and considering agreements with other states that may have the capacity to provide higher education opportunities for Washington citizens. To make use of these new approaches requires consideration of what these methods of delivery will cost and how that will impact tuition and state support of higher education and consideration of different tuition models and levels of state support for technology-based delivery models and incentives for Washington students to use enrollment agreements with other states.

A second step in meeting the needs of students efficiently is to assure maximum use of all existing institutions. To assure such use, packaging of tuition, fees, and living expense models for four years should be developed as an incentive for using space available.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 28B.80 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The higher education coordinating board shall develop up to three tuition and state support models for the delivery of technology-based programs. The models shall identify the cost and distribution of tuition and state support if the degree program is offered by a single Washington institution of higher education or by a consortium of Washington institutions of higher education. The board shall also make recommendations on levels of tuition and state support for Washington state participation in the western governors' virtual university.

(2) The board shall develop up to three incentive models to encourage Washington students to use enrollment agreements with other states. This does not affect current reciprocity agreements or agreements set forth in chapter 28B.70 RCW.

(3) The board shall develop one model for packaging tuition, fees, and living expenses to cover a four-year period.

(4) The board shall develop a model as proposed to the 1997 legislature in Senate Bill No. 5833.

(5) The board shall report to the legislature no later than December 30, 1997, on the models developed and its recommendation on the use of the models.

(6) The board shall authorize at least two community colleges and two four-year public institutions, chosen by application by the higher education coordinating board, to carry out a two-year pilot project beginning in September 1997, and terminating on August 31, 1999, that allows an out-of-state student enrolled in a program delivered by distance learning technology through a reciprocity agreement approved by the board to pay a negotiated tuition rate no less than Washington resident rates where the total state yearly enrollment under such agreements creates a one full-time equivalent student for one full-time equivalent student balance. Out-of-state students in distance learning programs in excess of the reciprocity agreement balance shall be treated as self-sustaining enrollments.

(a) The participating institutions shall collect information on the cost of development, operation, and faculty cost that are part of the courses or programs offered in the pilot project and make this information available to the higher education coordinating board for review and analysis. This information shall be collected for the cost study.

(b) The participating institutions shall document the number of in-state and out-of-state students participating in the pilot project in this subsection (6), the state of residence of the students, number of courses and credit hours taken, and the revenue generated by tuition from the students participating in the pilot project and other financial support necessary to fund the courses or programs. The institution shall also conduct a student evaluation of the course and share these results with the board.

(d) An interim report shall be submitted to the legislature by January 1, 1998, and the final report on the pilot project shall be submitted to the legislature by January 1, 1999.

(7) The models in subsections (1) through (4) of this section shall not be implemented until authorized by the legislature.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 28B.15 RCW to read as follows:

(1) Out-of-state students enrolled in distance learning under section 2 of this act, for the period of September 1, 1997, through August 31, 1999, shall be charged a negotiated rate of tuition no less than Washington resident tuition. An out-of-state student under this section may be treated as a resident student if there is a one full-time equivalent student for one full-time equivalent student exchange within the annual total number of full-time equivalent students participating in the program under section 2 of this act. If the out-of-state student enrollment is in excess of the one-for-one exchange, the excess students shall be enrolled on a self-supporting basis.

(2) An out-of-state student participating in distance education classes under this section shall not be eligible for state-funded financial aid programs.

(3) This section expires August 31, 2000."

HB 1109 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Higher Education

On page 1, line 4 of the title, after "states;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "adding new sections to chapter 28B.80 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28B.15 RCW; and providing an expiration date."