BILL REQ. #:  S-3571.2 

Read first time 01/13/10.   Referred to Committee on Higher Education & Workforce Development.

     AN ACT Relating to tuition surcharges for students who do not have timely completion of degrees; amending RCW 28B.10.695; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 28B.10.695 and 2003 c 407 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Each four-year institution of higher education and the state board for community and technical colleges shall develop policies that ensure undergraduate students enrolled in degree or certificate programs complete their programs in a timely manner in order to make the most efficient use of instructional resources and provide capacity within the institution for additional students.
     (2) Policies adopted under this section shall address, but not be limited to, undergraduate students in the following circumstances:
     (a) Students who accumulate more than one hundred twenty-five percent of the number of credits required to complete their respective baccalaureate or associate degree or certificate programs;
     (b) Students who drop more than twenty-five percent of their course load before the grading period for the quarter or semester, which prevents efficient use of instructional resources; ((and))
     (c) Students who remain on academic probation for more than one quarter or semester; and
     (d) Students who have received a passing grade in a course but wish to repeat the course for an improved grade.
     (3) Students who wish to repeat a course who have already obtained a passing grade must wait to enroll in that course until the fourth day of the academic quarter or semester. Enrollment will be permitted on a space available basis as determined by the college or university.
     (4) Policies adopted under this section ((may)) shall include assessment by the institution of a surcharge in addition to regular tuition and fees to be paid by a student for continued enrollment. The amount of the surcharge shall result in a tuition fees assessment for that student equivalent to the full cost of instruction for the subsequent quarter or semester after a finding that a policy under subsection (2)(a), (b), or (c) of this section has been violated. The surcharge shall continue to be assessed until the institution of higher education determines that the policy is no longer being violated.
     (5) It is presumed that the surcharge shall apply to all students described in subsection (2)(a), (b), or (c) of this section unless the student presents to his or her registrar evidence that one or more of the following exemptions may apply:
     (a) The student is a dislocated worker as defined by RCW 50.04.075 or a person engaging in a job training program under the purview of the workforce training and education coordinating board;
     (b) The student participates in the border county higher education opportunity project under RCW 28B.76.685;
     (c) The student is a certificated teacher of the K-12 school system pursuing continuing education credits according to certification requirements; or
     (d) The student has not been enrolled in an institution of higher education during the preceding five years.
     (6) Students who believe they are under extraordinary or unforeseen academic or personal circumstances or were unable to complete their baccalaureate degree program within the number of credits specified due to an institution's constraints may petition the institution of higher education for a special waiver from the tuition surcharge provisions of subsection (4) of this section. The institution of higher education shall create a process through which student petitions may be fairly processed, heard, and determined. The process shall include a one hundred dollar administrative fee. The entire amount of the fee shall be refunded for those students who make a successful petition.
     (7) For the purposes of this section, "full cost of instruction" means the average instructional support in state general funds and tuition fees, as defined in RCW 28B.15.020, per full-time equivalent undergraduate at each institution of higher education for that academic year.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   This act takes effect July 1, 2010.