Passed by the Senate April 23, 2003 YEAS 37 NAYS 11 BRAD OWEN ________________________________________ President of the Senate Passed by the House April 17, 2003 YEAS 97 NAYS 1 FRANK CHOPP ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives		CERTIFICATE I, Milton H. Doumit, Jr., Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is ENGROSSED SECOND SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5135 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth. MILTON H. DOUMIT JR. ________________________________________ Secretary
Approved May 20, 2003. GARY LOCKE ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington		FILED May 20, 2003 - 3:59 p.m. Secretary of State State of Washington

AN ACT Relating to increased tuition fees and fees for excess credits taken at institutions of higher education; adding a new section to chapter 28B.10 RCW; and creating a new section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 28B.10 RCW 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.
     (3) Policies adopted under this section may include assessment by the institution of a surcharge in addition to regular tuition and fees to be paid by a student for continued enrollment.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) Each public four-year institution of higher education and the state board for community and technical colleges shall report to the higher education coordinating board by January 30, 2004, on the policies developed under section 1 of this act. The report shall include baseline data on the number and characteristics of students affected by the policies. If the policies were adopted before the effective date of this section, the report shall describe the impact of the policies.
     (2) In the report, each four-year institution shall also describe policies developed and actions taken by the institution to eliminate barriers to timely completion of degree programs, including reducing the occasions where students cannot enroll in courses needed for their major due to overenrollment. The state board may select a sample of colleges to describe policies and actions to address course scheduling issues.
     (3) The higher education coordinating board shall summarize the reports from the institutions and the state board and make a report to the higher education committees of the legislature by March 1, 2004. The report prepared by the higher education coordinating board shall include recommendations for additional legislative action, including whether increased tuition and fees should be uniformly charged to students as an additional incentive for timely completion of degree and certificate programs.