HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1344

BYRepresentatives Sanders, Ferguson, Jacobsen, Miller, Heavey, Walker, Basich and Unsoeld

Providing for resident tuition and fees for certain students whose parents are out-of-state or out-of-country.

House Committe on Higher Education

Majority Report:  Do pass with amendments.  (12)

      Signed by Representatives Jacobsen, Chair; Heavey, Vice Chair; Barnes, Basich, Fox, Jesernig, Miller, Nelson, Prince, Silver, Unsoeld and K. Wilson.

House Staff:Susan Hosch (786-7120)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION JANUARY 26, 1988

BACKGROUND:

Current law establishes criteria for determining residency status for purposes of paying college tuition. A distinction is made between students who are dependent on parents for financial support, and those who are financially independent.  A financially independent student who has established a permanent home or "domicile" in the state for at least a year before starting college is a resident student, as long as the student established that home for purposes "other than educational".

A dependent student is a resident if one or both of the student's parents or legal guardians have maintained a permanent home in the state for at least the year before the student begins college.  A dependent resident student is also a student who has spent at least three-fourths of his or her junior and senior years in Washington high schools, if the student's parents or guardians had maintained a permanent domicile within the state for at least one year during the last five years.  A student in this latter category must enroll in a public college or university within six months of leaving high school.

Longtime Washington residents who are transferred to another state or country by their employer, leaving behind dependent children to attend high school and college in this state, may find their children classified as nonresident students under current law.

Military personnel who are stationed in the state will receive a waiver of the nonresident tuition differential while they are on active duty status, but once they are discharged from the service, they are subject to the domicile requirements placed on other students.

SUMMARY:

BILL AS AMENDED: For the purpose of paying tuition, the statutory definition of a resident student is expanded to include three new categories of students.

An employee of a business based in Washington, and the spouse and dependent children of that employee, will be resident students if the employee is a United States citizen or temporary resident, and has maintained a domicile in the state for at least one year during the five-year period immediately prior to enrolling in college, and if the employee has been employed in a branch or plant of that business located outside the state of Washington.

Resident students will also include students who have spent at least seventy-five percent of both the student's junior and senior years in high school in Washington, if the student or a parent of the student is a citizen of the United States, and if the student's parents are employed outside the boundaries of the United States.

A person who has been honorably discharged from the military, and the spouse and dependent children of that person, will be resident students if the person was serving on active duty in Washington at the time of discharge, and was enrolled in a state institution of higher education while serving in the military, and continued to be enrolled at the time of discharge.  This definition will apply for as long as the person remains continuously enrolled for three quarters or two semesters in any calendar year.

AMENDED BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL: For the purpose of paying tuition, the statutory definition of resident student is expanded to include a person who has been honorably discharged from the military, if the person was serving on active duty in Washington at the time of discharge, and if the person was enrolled in a state institution of higher education while serving in the military, and continued to be enrolled at the time of discharge.  The spouse and dependent children of the person are also considered as residents.  This definition will apply for as long as the person remains continuously enrolled, for three quarters or two semesters in any calendar year.

Fiscal Note:      Requested January 26, 1988.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Mora Gilley; Tim Washburn, University of Washington; Pat Decker.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    Current laws outlining residency requirements for paying instate tuition rates are too restrictive.  If a student's parents are employed outside the country, the student may be defined as a nonresident. If other states define resident student in the way Washington does, that student will not be eligible to receive resident tuition rates in any state in the country.  A student who spends most of his or her high school years in Washington should be allowed to attend college here as well.  Military personnel who are stationed in Washington are allowed to pay resident tuition rates.  When those persons are discharged from the military, they may be required to pay nonresident tuition rates, even if they are residents of the state when they are discharged.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.