COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 564
(By Senators Edgell, Plymale, Kessler and Stollings)
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[Originating in the Committee on Education;
reported February 13, 2008.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18-19-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §18B-10-5 and
§18B-10-6 of said code, all relating to waivers of higher
education tuition and fees; clarifying eligibility
requirements for certain applicants; changing method of
calculating limits on waivers of tuition and fees; and
exempting tuition and fee waivers granted to higher education
employees, spouses and dependents and all tuition and fee
waivers authorized by statute from calculation of limits on
percentage of tuition and fee waivers granted by state
institutions of higher education.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-19-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; and that §18B-10-5 and §18B-10-6 of said
code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 19. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR SPOUSES AND CHILDREN OF
DECEASED SOLDIERS, SAILORS, MARINES AND AIRMEN.
§18-19-2. Eligibility of applicant for benefits; application
forms; preference.
(a) To be eligible for the benefits of this article, a child
or spouse set forth in section one of this article shall
be meet
the following conditions:
(1)
In the case of a child, be at least sixteen and not more
than twenty-five years of age;
(2)
Be enrolled in a post-secondary education or training
institution in this state; and
(3)
Be the child or spouse of an enlistee who designated West
Virginia as his or her state of record.
(b) The application shall be made to, and upon forms provided
by, the West Virginia Division of Veterans' Affairs. The division
shall determine the eligibility of those who apply and the yearly
amount to be allotted each applicant. The amount, in the
discretion of the division, may vary from year to year, but may not
exceed the sum of one thousand dollars in any one semester or a
total of two thousand dollars in any one year. In selecting those
to receive the benefits of this article, preference shall be given
those who are otherwise financially unable to secure the
educational opportunities.
CHAPTER 18B. HIGHER EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 10. FEES AND OTHER MONEY COLLECTED AT STATE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
§18B-10-5. Fee waivers-Undergraduate schools.
Each governing board periodically may establish fee waivers
for students in undergraduate studies at institutions under its
jurisdiction entitling recipients to waiver of tuition, capital and
other fees subject to the following conditions and limitations:
(a) Undergraduate fee waivers established by the governing
boards of Marshall University and West Virginia University,
respectively, for the state institutions of higher education known
as Marshall University and West Virginia University, are subject to
the provisions of section six-a of this article;
(b) For the governing boards of state institutions of higher
education other than the state institutions of higher education
known as Marshall University and West Virginia University, the
following conditions apply:
(1) An institution may not have in effect at any time
a number
of undergraduate fee waivers
which exceeds five percent of the
number of totaling more in value than five percent of the tuition
and required fees assessed for all full-time equivalent
undergraduate students registered during the fall semester of the
immediately preceding academic year.
(2) Each undergraduate fee waiver entitles the recipient
thereof to attend a designated state institution of higher
education without payment of the tuition, capital and other fees as
may be prescribed by the governing board and is for a period of
time not to exceed eight semesters of undergraduate study.
(3) The governing board shall make rules pursuant to the
provisions of section six, article one of this chapter, governing
the award of undergraduate fee waivers; the issuance and
cancellation of certificates entitling the recipients to the
benefits thereof; the use of the fee waivers by the recipients; and
the rights and duties of the recipients with respect to the fee
waivers. These rules may not be inconsistent with the provisions
of this section.
(4) The awarding of undergraduate fee waivers shall be entered
in the minutes of the meetings of the governing board.
(5) Students enrolled in an administratively-linked community
and technical college shall be awarded a proportionate share of the
total number of undergraduate fee waivers awarded by a governing
board. The number to be awarded to students of the community and
technical college is based upon the full-time equivalent enrollment
of that institution.
(6) An institution may grant fee waivers to its employees,
their spouses and dependents, and these waivers are not counted
when determining the maximum percentage of waivers permitted by
this section of the code.
(7) Any fee waivers mandated by this article or by section
three, article nineteen, chapter eighteen of this code are not
counted when determining the maximum percentage of waivers
permitted by this section of the code.
§18B-10-6. Fee waivers-Professional and graduate schools.
In addition to the fee waivers authorized for undergraduate study by the provisions of section five of this article, each
governing board periodically may establish fee waivers for study in
graduate and professional schools under its jurisdiction, including
medicine and dentistry, entitling the recipients to waiver of
tuition, capital, and other fees, subject to the following
conditions and limitations:
(a) Graduate and professional fee waivers established by the
governing boards of Marshall University and West Virginia
University, respectively, are subject to the provisions of section
six-a of this article;
(b) For the governing boards of state institutions of higher
education other than the state institutions of higher education
known as Marshall University and West Virginia University, the
following conditions apply:
(1) An institution may not have in effect at any time
a number
of graduate and professional school fee waivers
which exceeds five
percent of the number of totaling more in value than five percent
of the tuition and required fees assessed for all full-time
equivalent graduate and professional students registered during the
corresponding fall semester, spring semester and summer term of the
immediately preceding academic year. In addition to the above five
percent, all graduate assistants employed by these institutions
shall be granted a fee waiver.
(2) Each graduate or professional school fee waiver entitles
the recipient to waiver of the tuition, capital and other fees as
may be prescribed by the governing boards and is for a period of time not to exceed the number of semesters normally required in the
recipient's academic discipline.
(3) The governing boards shall make rules pursuant to the
provisions of section six, article one of this chapter, governing
the award of graduate and professional school fee waivers; the
issuance and cancellation of certificates entitling the recipients
to the benefits thereof; the use of the fee waivers by the
recipients; and the rights and duties of the recipients with
respect to the fee waivers. These rules may not be inconsistent
with the provisions of this section.
(4) The awarding of graduate and professional school fee
waivers shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting of each
governing board.
(5) An institution may grant fee waivers to its employees,
their spouses, and dependents, and these waivers are not counted
when determining the maximum percentage of waivers permitted by
this section.
(6) Any fee waivers mandated by this article or by section
three, article nineteen, chapter eighteen of this code are not
counted when determining the maximum percentage of waivers
permitted by this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the age limitation
for spouses of deceased service men and women to be eligible for
special education benefits; to repeal unclear language on granting
tuition and fee waivers; change method of calculation limits on
percentage of tuition and fee waivers; and to exempt all
statutorily-authorized tuition and fee waivers, including those granted to higher education employees, their spouses, and
dependents, from limits on percentage of tuition and fee waivers
granted by state institutions of higher education.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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