1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to veterans; expanding certain postsecondary
1.3 	education rights; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004,
1.4 	section 192.502, subdivision 1.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 192.502,
1.7 	subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Postsecondary students.  (a) A member of
1.9 	the Minnesota National Guard or any other military reserve
1.10 	component who is a As used in this subdivision, the terms
1.11 	"qualified person" and "qualified student" have the same meaning
1.12 	and include:
1.13 	(1) any student at a postsecondary education educational 
1.14 	institution and who is called or ordered to state into active
1.15 	military service in the Minnesota National Guard, as defined in
1.16 	section 190.05, subdivision 5, or who is called or ordered to
1.17 	federal active military service ; and 
1.18 	(2) a veteran, as defined in section 197.447, who has a
1.19 	service connected disability as certified by the United States
1.20 	Department of Veterans Affairs, who is a student at a
1.21 	postsecondary educational institution, and whose medical
1.22 	condition or medical treatment requirements reasonably prevent
1.23 	the person's attendance at or progress in part or all of the
1.24 	person's higher educational training or studies at any given
1.25 	time.
2.1 	(b) A qualified person or qualified student has the
2.2 	following rights:
2.3 	(1) with regard to courses in which the person is enrolled,
2.4 	the person may:
2.5 	(i) withdraw from one or more courses for which tuition and
2.6 	fees have been paid that are attributable to the courses.  The
2.7 	tuition and fees must be credited to the person's account at the
2.8 	postsecondary institution.  Any refunds are subject to the
2.9 	requirements of the state or federal financial aid programs of
2.10 	origination.  In such a case, the student must not receive
2.11 	credit for the courses and must not receive a failing grade, an
2.12 	incomplete, or other negative annotation on the student's
2.13 	record, and the student's grade point average must not be
2.14 	altered or affected in any manner because of action under this
2.15 	item;
2.16 	(ii) be given a grade of incomplete and be allowed to
2.17 	complete the course upon release from active duty service, upon
2.18 	completion of medical treatment, or upon sufficient medical
2.19 	recovery under the postsecondary institution's standard practice
2.20 	for completion of incompletes; or
2.21 	(iii) continue and complete the course for full credit.
2.22 	Class sessions the student misses due to performance of state or
2.23 	federal active military service or due to the person's medical
2.24 	treatment or medical condition must be counted as excused
2.25 	absences and must not be used in any way to adversely impact the
2.26 	student's grade or standing in the class.  Any student who
2.27 	selects this option is not, however, automatically excused from
2.28 	completing assignments due during the period the student is
2.29 	performing state or federal active military service or receiving
2.30 	medical treatment or recovering from a medical condition.  A
2.31 	letter grade or a grade of pass must only be awarded only if, in
2.32 	the opinion of the faculty member teaching the course, the
2.33 	student has completed sufficient work and has demonstrated
2.34 	sufficient progress toward meeting course requirements to
2.35 	justify the grade;
2.36 	(2) to receive a refund of amounts paid for room, board,
3.1 	and fees attributable to the time period during which the
3.2 	student was serving in state or federal active military service
3.3 	or receiving medical treatment or dealing with the person's
3.4 	medical condition and did not use the facilities or services for
3.5 	which the amounts were paid.  Any refund of room, board, and
3.6 	fees is subject to the requirements of the state or federal
3.7 	financial aid programs of origination; and
3.8 	(3) if the student chooses to withdraw, the student has the
3.9 	right to be readmitted and reenrolled as a student at the
3.10 	postsecondary education institution, without penalty or
3.11 	redetermination of admission eligibility, within one year two
3.12 	years following release from the state or federal active
3.13 	military service or following completion of medical treatment or
3.14 	sufficient recovery from the person's medical condition.
3.15 	(b) (c) The protections in this section may be invoked as
3.16 	follows:
3.17 	(1) the qualified person or qualified student, or an
3.18 	appropriate officer from the military organization in which the
3.19 	person will be serving, or an appropriate medical authority or
3.20 	the person's authorized caregiver or family member,must give
3.21 	advance verbal or written notice that the person is being called
3.22 	or ordered to qualifying active military service or will be
3.23 	undertaking medical treatment or a period of recovery for a
3.24 	medical condition;
3.25 	(2) advance notice is not required if the giving of notice
3.26 	is precluded by military or medical necessity or, under all the
3.27 	relevant circumstances, the giving of notice is impossible or
3.28 	unreasonable; and
3.29 	(3) upon written request from the postsecondary
3.30 	institution, the person must provide written verification of the
3.31 	order to active service or of the existence of the medical
3.32 	condition or medical treatment.
3.33 	(c) (d) This section provides minimum protections for
3.34 	qualified students.  Nothing in this section prevents
3.35 	postsecondary institutions from providing additional options or
3.36 	protections to students who are called or ordered to state or
4.1 	federal active military service or are undertaking medical
4.2 	treatment or a period of recovery from a medical condition.
4.3 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day
4.4 	following final enactment.