Brief Description: Including members of federally recognized Indian tribes as resident students for tuition purposes.

Sponsors: By House Committee on Higher Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Strow, Kenney, Walsh, McCoy, Ormsby, Murray, Chase, Dickerson, Hasegawa, Roberts, Santos and Hudgins).

House Committee on Higher Education
Senate Committee on Early Learning, K-12 & Higher Education

Background:

State laws define a number of criteria for determining residency for purposes of paying resident tuition rates at public institutions of higher education. The primary criterion is that the student, or his or her family if the student is a dependent, must have a bona fide domicile in Washington for at least one year prior to the academic year in which the student wishes to enroll.

Native American students can also qualify for resident tuition if they were a resident of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, or Washington during the prior year, and if they are a member of an American Indian tribe whose traditional and customary tribal boundaries included portions of Washington, or whose tribe was granted reserved lands in the state. Thirty-three different tribes are specified in the statute. Twenty-seven are Washington tribes recognized by the federal government. Five are tribes whose primary tribal boundaries are in neighboring states.

This law was enacted in 1994. Since that time, two additional Washington tribes have received federal recognition: the Samish Indian Nation and the Cowlitz Tribe. These tribes
are not currently included in the statutory list of tribes under the law regarding resident tuition for Native American students.

Summary:

Members of any federally recognized Indian tribe, rather than a specific list of tribes, whose customary and tribal boundaries include portions of Washington are eligible for resident tuition under certain circumstances.

Votes on Final Passage:

House   97   0
Senate   46   0

Effective: July 24, 2005