2024 -- S 2983 | |
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LC005941 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- COUNCIL ON POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION -- | |
STUDENT SUCCESS ACT | |
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Introduced By: Senators Ciccone, F. Lombardi, Burke, Picard, Tikoian, Britto, | |
Date Introduced: April 16, 2024 | |
Referred To: Senate Education | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 16-59-9.3 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-59 entitled "Council on |
2 | Postsecondary Education [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" |
3 | is hereby amended to read as follows: |
4 | 16-59-9.3. Student Success Act. |
5 | Notwithstanding any other provision of the general or public laws: |
6 | (1) A student, other than a nonimmigrant alien within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. § |
7 | 1101(a)(15), who meets all of the following requirements shall be exempt from paying nonresident |
8 | tuition at Rhode Island public universities, colleges, or community colleges, if he or she: |
9 | (i) Attended an approved Rhode Island high school for three (3) or more consecutive years |
10 | at least one academic school year; |
11 | (ii) Continues to reside in the state of Rhode Island; |
12 | (iii) Has graduated from an approved Rhode Island high school or received a high school |
13 | equivalency diploma from the state of Rhode Island; |
14 | (iv) Has filed, or will file, upon matriculation, with the Rhode Island public university, |
15 | college, or community college of expected attendance, an affidavit stating that: |
16 | (A) The student meets the requirements of subsections (1)(i) and (1)(ii) of this section; and |
17 | (B) If the student is not a United States citizen and does not have a lawful immigration |
18 | status, that the student has filed an application for lawful immigration status, or will file the |
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1 | application as soon as the student is eligible to do so. The affidavit shall not require students to |
2 | reveal their immigration or citizenship status. |
3 | (2) Any nonimmigrant foreign national student, who has resided in Rhode Island for three |
4 | (3) years one year and has attended a Rhode Island high school for three (3) years at least one |
5 | academic school year, will be eligible to pay the same in-state tuition as any other Rhode Island |
6 | student. |
7 | (3) Identifiable student information obtained pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall |
8 | be confidential to the extent provided by state and federal law (including the federal Family |
9 | Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)). If information obtained pursuant to this section |
10 | regarding a student’s immigration status is provided to any agency for purposes other than the |
11 | implementation of this section, the entity providing the information shall promptly notify the |
12 | student. |
13 | (4) The Rhode Island council for postsecondary education shall prescribe rules and |
14 | regulations as may be necessary for the implementation of this section. |
15 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- COUNCIL ON POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION -- | |
STUDENT SUCCESS ACT | |
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1 | This act would reduce the time, from three (3) years to one year, required for a |
2 | nonimmigrant foreign national student, who has resided in Rhode Island, to be eligible to pay the |
3 | same in-state tuition as any other Rhode Island student. |
4 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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