H. B. 2395


(By Delegate Fragale)

[Introduced January 10, 1996; referred to the

Committee on Education then Finance.]





A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article ten, chapter eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to limiting the higher education fees charged to part-time, commuting graduate students; specifically providing exemptions from student activity fees; and extending such students a participation and payment option that is prorated to actual credit hours being taken.

 Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article ten, chapter eighteen-b of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10. FEES AND OTHER MONEY COLLECTED AT STATE INSTITUTIONS
OF HIGHER EDUCATION.

§18B-10-1. Enrollment, tuition and other fees at educational

institutions; refund of fees.

(a) Each governing board shall fix tuition and other fees for each school term for the different classes or categories of students enrolling at each state institution of higher education under its jurisdiction and may include among such fees any one or more of the following: (1) Health service fees; (2) infirmary fees; (3) student activities, recreational, athletic and extracurricular fees, which said fees may be used to finance a student's attorney to perform legal services for students in civil matters at such institutions: Provided, That such legal services shall be limited to only those types of cases, programs or services approved by the administrative head of such institution where such legal services are to be performed; and (4) graduate center fees and branch college fees, or either, if the establishment and operations of graduate centers or branch colleges are otherwise authorized by law. All fees collected at any graduate center or at any branch college shall be paid into special funds and shall be used solely for the maintenance and operation of the graduate center or branch college at which they were collected: Provided, however, That the governing boards shall use the median of the average tuition and required fees at similarly classified institutions in member states of the southern regional education board as a goal in establishing tuition and required fee levels for residents at state institutions of higher education under their jurisdiction: Provided further, That the governing boards shall use the actual instructional cost as the same shall be determined in accordance with board rule, in establishing nonresident undergraduate fees, with the goal of having tuition and fees cover the actual cost by fiscal year one thousand nine hundred ninety-six: And provided further, That students enrolled in undergraduate courses offered at off-campus locations shall pay an off-campus instruction fee and shall not pay the athletic fee and the student activity fee. The off-campus instruction fee shall be used solely for the support of off-campus courses offered by the institution. Off-campus locations for each institution shall be defined by the appropriate governing board. The schedule of all fees, and any changes therein, shall be entered in the minutes of the meeting of the appropriate governing board, and the board shall file with the legislative auditor a certified copy of such schedule and changes.
(b) In addition to the fees mentioned in the preceding paragraph, each governing board may impose and collect a student union building fee. All such building fees collected at an institution shall be paid into a special student union building fund for such institution, which is hereby created in the state treasury, and shall be used only for the construction, operation and maintenance of a student union building or a combination student union and dining hall building or for the payment of the principal of and interest on any bond issued to finance part or all of the construction of a student union building or a combination student union and dining hall building or the renovation of an existing structure for use as a student union building or a combination student union and dining hall building, all as more fully provided in section ten of this article. Any moneys in such funds not immediately needed for such purposes may be invested in any such bonds or other securities as are now or hereafter authorized as proper investments for state funds.
(c) The boards shall establish the rates to be charged full-time students enrolled during a regular academic term. For fee purposes a full-time undergraduate student shall be one enrolled for twelve or more credit hours in a regular term, and a full-time graduate student shall be one enrolled for nine or more credit hours in a regular term. Undergraduate students taking fewer than twelve credit hours in a regular term shall have their fees reduced pro rata based upon one twelfth of the full-time rate per credit hour. Part-time, commuting graduate students, or those taking less than nine credit hours in a regular term, shall not be required to pay student activity fees supporting athletic, recreational, transportation or other extracurricular services or activities: Provided, That such part-time, commuting graduate students may choose to participate in such activities or utilize such services and graduate students taking fewer than nine credit hours in a regular term shall have their these and other allowable fees reduced pro rata based upon one ninth of the full-time rate per credit hour.
Fees for students enrolled in summer terms or other nontraditional time periods shall be prorated based upon the number of credit hours for which the student enrolls in accordance with the above provisions.
(d) All fees are due and payable by the student upon enrollment and registration for classes except as provided for in this subsection:
(1) The governing boards shall permit fee payments to be made in up to three installments over the course of the academic term. The payments shall include interest at a rate set by the governing board: Provided, That all fees must be paid prior to the awarding of course credit at the end of the academic term.
(2) The governing boards shall also authorize the acceptance of credit cards or other payment methods which may be generally available to students for the payment of fees: Provided, That the governing boards may charge the students for the reasonable and customary charges incurred in accepting credit cards and other methods of payment.
(3) If a governing board determines that any student was adversely, financially affected by a legal work stoppage that commenced on or after the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, it may allow the student an additional six months to pay the fees for any academic term: Provided, That the governing board shall determine if a student was adversely, financially affected on a case-by-case basis.
(e) The governing boards shall establish legislative rules regarding the refund of any fees upon the voluntary or involuntary withdrawal from classes of any student which rules shall comply with all applicable state and federal laws and shall be uniformly applied throughout the systems.
(f) The governing boards shall establish legislative rules using the fee structure or other penalties to provide a disincentive for students to register for classes in excess of the typical full-time course load, that being from twelve to eighteen credit hours for an undergraduate student and from nine to fifteen credit hours for a graduate student, and then to withdraw from such excess classes after the semester has begun.
(g) In addition to the fees mentioned in the preceding subsections, each governing board may impose, collect and distribute a fee to be used to finance a nonprofit, student-controlled public interest research group: Provided, That the students at such institution demonstrate support for the increased fee in a manner and method established by that institution's elected student government: Provided, however, That such fees shall not be used to finance litigation against the institution.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt part-time, commuting graduate students at higher education institutions from being charged student activity fees, particularly those that finance athletic contests and student transportation. Such students, however, may choose to participate in such activities or services by paying the fees which are to be reduced pro rata according to the number of credit hours they are taking during a regular term.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.