An act to amend Section 76140 of the Education Code, relating to public postsecondary education, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.
Section 76140 of the Education Code is amended to read:
76140.
(a) A community college district may admit, and shall charge a tuition fee to, nonresident students, except that a community college district may exempt from all or parts of the fee any person described in paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4), and shall exempt from all of the fee any person described in paragraph (5) or (6):
(1) All nonresidents who enroll for six or fewer units. Exemptions made pursuant to this paragraph shall not be made on an individual basis.
(2) Any nonresident who is both a citizen and resident of a foreign country, if the nonresident has demonstrated a financial need for the exemption. Not more than 10 percent of the nonresident foreign students attending any community college district may be so exempted. Exemptions made pursuant to this paragraph may be made on an individual basis.
(3) (A) A student who, as of August 29, 2005, was enrolled, or admitted with an intention to enroll, in the fall term of the 2005–06 academic year in a regionally accredited institution of higher education in Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi, and who could not continue his or her attendance at that institution as a direct consequence of damage sustained by that institution as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
(B) The chancellor shall develop guidelines for the implementation of this paragraph. These guidelines shall include standards for appropriate documentation of student eligibility to the extent feasible.
(C) This paragraph shall apply only to the 2005–06 academic year.
(4) A special part-time student admitted pursuant to Section 76001.
(5) A nonresident student who is a United States citizen who resides in a foreign country, if that nonresident meets all of the following requirements:
(A) Demonstrates a financial need for the exemption.
(B) Has a parent or guardian who has been deported or was permitted to depart voluntarily under the federal Immigration and Nationality Act in accordance with Section 1229c of Title 8 of the United States Code. The student shall provide documents from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services evidencing the deportation or voluntary departure of his or her parent or guardian.
(C) Moved abroad as a result of the deportation or voluntary departure specified in subparagraph (B).
(D) Lived in California immediately before moving abroad. The student shall provide information and evidence that demonstrates the student previously lived in California.
(E) Attended a public or private secondary school, as described in Sections 52 and 53, in the state for three or more years. The student shall provide documents that demonstrate his or her secondary school attendance.
(F) Upon enrollment, will be in his or her first academic year as a matriculated student in California public higher education, as that term is defined in subdivision (a) of Section 66010, will be living in California, and will file an affidavit with the institution stating that he or she intends to establish residency in California as soon as possible.
(6) A nonresident student who is a covered individual as defined
pursuant to
in
Section 702 of the federal Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-146), as it read on July 1, 2015, who is using, or is intending to use, GI Bill education benefits while living in California and enrolled at a community
college.
college on or after July 1, 2015.
As used in this paragraph, “GI Bill education benefits” refers to any education benefit administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs pursuant to Title 38 of the United States Code that is designed to help eligible veterans of the Armed Forces of the United States or other persons eligible for those benefits because of a relationship to a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States to cover the costs associated with enrollment as a community college student.
(b) A district may contract with a state, a county contiguous to California, the federal government, or a foreign country, or an agency thereof, for payment of all or a part of a nonresident student’s tuition fee.
(c) Nonresident students shall not be reported as full-time equivalent students (FTES) for state apportionment purposes, except as provided by subdivision (j) or another statute, in which case a nonresident tuition fee may not be charged.
(d) The nonresident tuition fee shall be set by the governing board of each community college district not later than February 1 of each year for the succeeding fiscal year. The governing board of each community college district shall provide nonresident students with notice of nonresident tuition fee changes during the spring term before the fall term in which the change will take effect. Nonresident tuition fee increases shall be gradual, moderate, and predictable. The fee may be paid in installments, as determined by the governing board of the district.
(e) (1) The fee established by the governing board pursuant to subdivision (d) shall represent for nonresident students enrolled in 30 semester units or 45 quarter units of credit per fiscal year one or more of the following:
(A) The amount that was expended by the district for the expense of education as defined by the California Community College Budget and Accounting Manual in the preceding fiscal year increased by the projected percent increase in the United States Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Finance for the current fiscal year and succeeding fiscal year and divided by the FTES (including nonresident students) attending in the district in the preceding fiscal year. However, if for the district’s preceding fiscal year FTES of all students attending in the district in noncredit courses is equal to, or greater than, 10 percent of the district’s total FTES attending in the district, the district may substitute the data for expense of education in grades 13 and 14 and FTES in grades 13 and 14 attending in the district.
(B) The expense of education in the preceding fiscal year of all districts increased by the projected percent increase in the United States Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Finance for the fiscal year and succeeding fiscal year and divided by the FTES (including nonresident students) attending all districts during the preceding fiscal year. However, if the amount calculated under this paragraph for the succeeding fiscal year is less than the amount established for the current fiscal year or for any of the past four fiscal years, the district may set the nonresident tuition fee at the greater of the current or any of the past four-year amounts.
(C) An amount not to exceed the fee established by the governing board of any contiguous district.
(D) An amount not to exceed the amount that was expended by the district for the expense of education, but in no case less than the statewide average as set forth in subparagraph (B).
(E) An amount no greater than the average of the nonresident tuition fees of public community colleges of no less than 12 states that are comparable to California in cost of living. The determination of comparable states shall be based on a composite cost-of-living index as determined by the United States Department of Labor or a cooperating government agency.
(2) The additional revenue generated by the increased nonresident tuition permitted under the amendments made to this subdivision during the 2009–10 Regular Session shall be used to expand and enhance services to resident students. In no event shall the admission of nonresident students come at the expense of resident enrollment.
(f) The governing board of each community college district also shall adopt a tuition fee per unit of credit for nonresident students enrolled in more or less than 15 units of credit per term by dividing the fee determined in subdivision (e) by 30 for colleges operating on the semester system and 45 for colleges operating on the quarter system and rounding to the nearest whole dollar. The same rate shall be uniformly charged nonresident students attending any terms or sessions maintained by the community college. The rate charged shall be the rate established for the fiscal year in which the term or session ends.
(g) Any loss in district revenue generated by the nonresident tuition fee shall not be offset by additional state funding.
(h) Any district that has fewer than 1,500 FTES and whose boundary is within 10 miles of another state that has a reciprocity agreement with California governing student attendance and fees may exempt students from that state from the mandatory fee requirement described in subdivision (a) for nonresident students.
(i) Any district that has more than 1,500, but less than 3,001, FTES and whose boundary is within 10 miles of another state that has a reciprocity agreement with California governing student attendance and fees may, in any one fiscal year, exempt up to 100 FTES from that state from the mandatory fee requirement described in subdivision (a) for nonresident students.
(j) The attendance of nonresident students who are exempted pursuant to subdivision (h) or (i), or pursuant to paragraph (3), (5), or (6) of subdivision (a), from the mandatory fee requirement described in subdivision (a) for nonresident students may be reported as resident FTES for state apportionment purposes. Any nonresident student reported as resident FTES for state apportionment purposes pursuant to subdivision (h) or (i) shall pay a per unit fee that is three times the amount of the fee established for residents pursuant to Section 76300. That fee is to be included in the FTES adjustments described in Section 76300 for purposes of computing apportionments.
SEC. 2.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
SEC. 3.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
In order for the nonresident tuition exemption authorized by this act to be in effect for the 2015–16 academic year, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.

Summary: (1) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public higher education in the state. Existing law generally requires community college districts to charge a tuition fee to nonresident students, but exempts specified community college students from paying that nonresident tuition fee.
This bill would additionally exempt nonresident students living in California and enrolled at a community
college
college, as specified,
who are covered individuals, as defined in a specified federal statute, using, or are intending to use, Federal GI Bill education benefits, as specified, to cover the costs associated with enrollment as a community college student.
This bill would authorize community college districts to report students exempted from nonresident tuition under this bill as resident full-time equivalent students for purposes of calculating apportionments to those districts.
To the extent that this bill would place additional requirements on community college districts regarding the provision of postsecondary education benefits to certain students, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
(3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.