HF 1872

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to higher education; changing certain 
  1.3             requirements of the tuition reciprocity program; 
  1.4             providing for the collection of data; amending 
  1.5             Minnesota Statutes 2002, sections 13.322, subdivision 
  1.6             3; 136A.08, subdivision 2, by adding subdivisions; 
  1.7             270B.12, by adding a subdivision.  
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 13.322, 
  1.10  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 3.  [HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICES OFFICE.] (a)  
  1.12  [GENERAL.] Data sharing involving the Higher Education Services 
  1.13  Office and other institutions is governed by section 136A.05. 
  1.14     (b)  [STUDENT FINANCIAL AID.] Data collected and used by 
  1.15  the Higher Education Services Office on applicants for financial 
  1.16  assistance are classified under section 136A.162.  
  1.17     (c)  [MINNESOTA COLLEGE SAVINGS PLAN DATA.] Account owner 
  1.18  data, account data, and data on beneficiaries of accounts under 
  1.19  the Minnesota college savings plan are classified under section 
  1.20  136G.05, subdivision 10. 
  1.21     (d)  [SCHOOL FINANCIAL RECORDS.] Financial records 
  1.22  submitted by schools registering with the Higher Education 
  1.23  Services Office are classified under section 136A.64.  
  1.24     (e)  [RECIPROCAL AGREEMENTS WITH OTHER STATES ON 
  1.25  NONRESIDENT TUITION.] Data sharing on students who participate 
  1.26  in a tuition reciprocity agreement is governed under section 
  2.1   136A.08, subdivision 9. 
  2.2      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 136A.08, 
  2.3   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  2.4      Subd. 2.  [AUTHORIZATION.] The Higher Education Services 
  2.5   Office, in consultation with the commissioner of finance and 
  2.6   each affected public postsecondary board, may enter into 
  2.7   agreements, on subjects that include remission of nonresident 
  2.8   tuition for designated categories of students at public 
  2.9   postsecondary institutions, with appropriate state or provincial 
  2.10  agencies and public postsecondary institutions in other states 
  2.11  or provinces.  The agreements shall be for the purpose of the 
  2.12  mutual improvement of educational advantages for residents of 
  2.13  this state and other states or provinces with whom agreements 
  2.14  are made.  Administrative documents to implement agreements 
  2.15  under this section must be consistent with the requirements of 
  2.16  this section and the law on tuition reciprocity in participating 
  2.17  states.  Beginning in 2004, all agreements under this section or 
  2.18  any memoranda signed to implement agreements under this section 
  2.19  must include a requirement for participating states to provide 
  2.20  information on the graduation status and field of study of a 
  2.21  student enrolled under an agreement to the student's state of 
  2.22  residence, if the information is requested by that state. 
  2.23     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 136A.08, is 
  2.24  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.25     Subd. 7.  [REPORTING.] The Higher Education Services Office 
  2.26  must annually submit a report to the committees in the house of 
  2.27  representatives and the senate with responsibility for higher 
  2.28  education that includes (1) a copy of each annual administrative 
  2.29  memoranda signed to implement tuition reciprocity agreements 
  2.30  under this section; and (2) worksheets showing calculations used 
  2.31  to determine interstate payments for each state participating in 
  2.32  the tuition reciprocity program in the prior year. 
  2.33     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 136A.08, is 
  2.34  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  2.35     Subd. 8.  [REAUTHORIZATION.] The Higher Education Services 
  2.36  Office must report to the legislature on the tuition reciprocity 
  3.1   program by January 20, 2005, and every five years after the 
  3.2   initial report.  The report must include an evaluation of the 
  3.3   goals of the reciprocity program, an assessment of how 
  3.4   effectively the program is achieving the goals, and the relative 
  3.5   importance of the program to public higher education in 
  3.6   Minnesota.  The tuition reciprocity program must be reauthorized 
  3.7   in law every five years beginning in 2005.  If the program is 
  3.8   not reauthorized, this section sunsets two years after the date 
  3.9   of the required reauthorization.  Students enrolled under a 
  3.10  reciprocity agreement at the time of the sunset may complete up 
  3.11  to four years of study under the existing agreement.  No new 
  3.12  students may enroll under the reciprocity program after the 
  3.13  effective date of the sunset. 
  3.14     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 136A.08, is 
  3.15  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.16     Subd. 9.  [DATA SHARING.] (a) The Higher Education Services 
  3.17  Office must develop data collection procedures and agreements to 
  3.18  monitor the extent to which students who attend Minnesota 
  3.19  postsecondary institutions under reciprocity agreements are 
  3.20  employed in Minnesota after graduation.  These procedures must 
  3.21  include matching Social Security numbers of reciprocity students 
  3.22  for purposes of tracking the migration and employment of 
  3.23  students who receive associate, baccalaureate, or graduate 
  3.24  degrees through a tuition reciprocity program.  State agencies 
  3.25  must share wage and earnings data under section 268.19 for the 
  3.26  purpose of evaluating the tuition reciprocity program.  
  3.27     (b) The reciprocity application must request the use of 
  3.28  student Social Security numbers for the purposes of this 
  3.29  subdivision.  Reciprocity students must be informed that Social 
  3.30  Security numbers will be used only to evaluate the reciprocity 
  3.31  program by sharing information with Minnesota agencies and 
  3.32  departments responsible for the administration of covered wage 
  3.33  data and revenue collections.  Social Security numbers will not 
  3.34  be used for any other purpose or reported to any other 
  3.35  government entity. 
  3.36     (c) The office must include summary data on the migration 
  4.1   and earnings of reciprocity graduates in the report to the 
  4.2   legislature under section 4.  This report must include summary 
  4.3   statistics on number of graduates by institution, degree granted 
  4.4   and year of graduation, total number of reciprocity students 
  4.5   employed in the state, and total earnings of graduates. 
  4.6      Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 270B.12, is 
  4.7   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  4.8      Subd. 14.  [HIGHER EDUCATION SERVICES OFFICE.] The 
  4.9   commissioner may disclose return information to the Higher 
  4.10  Education Services Office to the extent it is necessary to 
  4.11  administer section 136A.08.  
  4.12     Sec. 7.  [TUITION RECIPROCITY; UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 
  4.13  SURCHARGE.] 
  4.14     The Higher Education Services Office, with the agreement of 
  4.15  and in consultation with the Board of Regents of the University 
  4.16  of Minnesota, shall renegotiate the tuition reciprocity 
  4.17  agreement with the state of Wisconsin to require an equivalent 
  4.18  tuition surcharge for Wisconsin students attending any campus of 
  4.19  the University of Minnesota.  The agreement may provide for a 
  4.20  tuition surcharge that is an equal percentage of the difference 
  4.21  in resident tuition at comparable institutions. 
  4.22     Sec. 8.  [INTERSTATE TUITION RECIPROCITY PAYMENTS.] 
  4.23     Subdivision 1.  [SOUTH DAKOTA.] The Higher Education 
  4.24  Services Office, in consultation with the South Dakota Board of 
  4.25  Regents, must determine a method to compute interstate 
  4.26  reimbursement under the tuition reciprocity agreement with South 
  4.27  Dakota under Minnesota Statutes, section 136A.08, subdivision 4, 
  4.28  and South Dakota Codified Laws, section 13-53B-1, article VII.  
  4.29  The office must provide for interstate reimbursement in the 
  4.30  annual agreements consistent with the requirements in Minnesota 
  4.31  and South Dakota law.  The office must negotiate with the state 
  4.32  of South Dakota and the South Dakota Board of Regents for 
  4.33  payment of any past amount owed under the agreements.  By 
  4.34  January 5, 2005, the office must report to the legislature on 
  4.35  the requirements for reimbursement and the status of payments 
  4.36  under this subdivision. 
  5.1      Subd. 2.  [NORTH DAKOTA.] The Higher Education Services 
  5.2   Office must negotiate with the state of North Dakota and the 
  5.3   North Dakota State Board of Education to establish an interstate 
  5.4   payment method under Minnesota Statutes, section 136A.08, 
  5.5   subdivision 4, and North Dakota Century Code, section 15-53B-1, 
  5.6   article VII, that includes accurate measures of instructional 
  5.7   costs and tuition levels in Minnesota and North Dakota in the 
  5.8   reimbursement formula.