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2016 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health
Subcommittee Higher Education

Saslaw (Chairman), Black, Chase, Cosgrove, Petersen

Clerk: Patty Lung
Staff: Thomas Stevens, Ryan Brimmer
Date of Meeting: January 26, 2016
Time and Place: Upon Adj. 4th Floor East Conference Rm.
***updated to add SB 330, 402, 438, 440, 452 and 636

S.B. 52

Patron: Howell

Virginia Student Loan Refinancing Authority established. Establishes the Virginia Student Loan Refinancing Authority, to be governed by a 10-member board, for the purpose of developing and implementing a program by which each individual who incurred qualified education loan debt as a Virginia student at an institution of higher education in the Commonwealth and who is eligible, on the basis of criteria established by the Authority that are substantially similar to criteria used by private lenders in the Commonwealth to evaluate student eligibility for an unsecured personal loan at market rates, may receive a loan from the Authority to refinance all or part of his qualified education loans, as that term is defined in relevant federal law.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 2.2-2905, 2.2-3705.4, 2.2-3711, and 2.2-4006 and to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Title 23 a chapter numbered 4.8:1, consisting of sections numbered 23-38.74:1 through 23-38.74:10, relating to the establishment of the Virginia Student Loan Refinancing Authority.

16100703D

S.B. 245

Patron: Stanley

Comprehensive community colleges; dual enrollment agreements. Requires each comprehensive community college to enter into agreements with the local school divisions it serves to facilitate dual enrollment of students into a program preparing students to pass a high school equivalency examination offered by the local school division and a postsecondary credential, certification, or license attainment program offered by the comprehensive community college.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 23-220.02, relating to dual enrollment agreements; high school equivalency.

16100391D

S.B. 313

Patron: Petersen

Virginia College Building Authority; projects; participating institutions. Permits any organization that is exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that is owned or controlled by a public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth or whose purpose is to support or otherwise benefit a public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth to finance projects through the Virginia College Building Authority.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 23-30.41, 23-30.42, 23-30.44, 23-30.45, 23-30.47, and 23-30.50 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia College Building Authority; projects; participating institutions.

16100739D

S.B. 330

Patron: Lewis

In-state tuition; members of the Virginia National Guard. Provides that any member of the Virginia National Guard residing in Virginia shall be eligible for in-state tuition at a public institution of higher education.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 23-7.4:2 of the Code of Virginia, relating to eligibility for in-state tuition; members of the Virginia National Guard.

16101623D

S.B. 402

Patron: Garrett

Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Act. Requires, beginning with the incoming freshman class of 2017, the board of visitors of a four-year public institution of higher education to maintain a ratio of the in-state and out-of-state student population in each incoming freshman class that is not less than 55 percent in-state students. The bill stablishes the Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Fund and Program. The program grants scholarships to the top two percent of graduates from Virginia public high schools. The scholarships pay for tuition, mandatory fees, room, and board for eight semesters over five years. Recipients may apply the scholarships to one of nine public institutions of higher education on the basis of the locality of the student's high school or to Norfolk State University, Virginia Military Institute, or Virginia State University.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 23-7.1:03 and by adding in Title 23 a chapter numbered 4.11, consisting of sections numbered 23-38.122 through 23-38.125, relating to public institutions of higher education; proportion of in-state students and the Virginia Higher Education Scholarship Act.

16100793D

S.B. 438

Patron: Barker

Public institutions of higher education; social media accounts. Prohibits a public or private institution of higher education from requiring a student to disclose the username or password to any of such student's social media accounts.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 23-2.1:3 of the Code of Virginia, relating to public institutions of higher education; social media accounts; disclosure.

16102473D

S.B. 440

Patron: Saslaw

Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program; eligibility; use of funds. Makes several changes to the student eligibility criteria for Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program grants, including (i) removing the requirement that the recipient be a dependent, (ii) requiring the recipient to be enrolled full time, (iii) removing the restriction on the number of years for which the grant may be renewed annually, and (iv) permitting renewal of the grant only if the recipient successfully completes a minimum of 30 credit hours in the immediate preceding award year, unless granted an exception for cause pursuant to State Council of Higher Education for Virginia regulations. The bill permits public institutions of higher education to use Guaranteed Assistance Program funds to provide enhanced awards to students who are enrolled in at least 15 credit hours per term. The provisions of the bill become effective beginning with first-time entering freshman class of the fall 2017 academic year.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 23-38.53:6 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program; eligibility; use of funds.

16103159D

S.B. 452

Patron: Stanley

Medical school; clinical rotations. Requires any public institution of higher education that awards medical degrees to require its medical students to participate in at least one clinical rotation in a hospital or clinic located in a medically underserved area of the state as determined by the Virginia Department of Health, in an area of the state that has an unemployment rate of one and one-half times the statewide average unemployment rate, or in a locality with a population of 50,000 or less in the Commonwealth.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 23-9.2:3.11, relating to medical school; clinical rotations.

16100434D

S.B. 501

Patron: Sturtevant

Higher education; in-state tuition. Prohibits, without the prior statutory approval of the General Assembly, any percent increase in in-state tuition or instructional fees for undergraduate students at Virginia's public institutions of higher education that exceeds twice the annual percent increase, as determined by the State Council for Higher Education, in the Average Consumer Price Index for all items, all urban consumers (CPI-U), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, from January 1 through December 31 of the year immediately preceding the affected year.

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 23-38.87:18, 23-38.103, 23-38.104, 23-45, 23-49.18, 23-49.22:2, 23-49.29, 23-50.11, 23-91.30, 23-91.41, 23-128, 23-135.13, 23-135.18, 23-155.8, 23-164.7, 23-165.7, 23-174.7, 23-189, and 23-218 of the Code of Virginia, relating to higher education; in-state tuition increases.

16100937D

S.B. 503

Patron: Sturtevant

Public institutions of higher education; fixed four-year tuition rate. Requires the board of visitors of four-year public institutions of higher education to annually establish, for each of the following four years, an in-state tuition rate class cap that identifies the annual amount at which the cost of in-state tuition will not exceed. The bill prohibits the cost of in-state tuition from exceeding the class rate cap for an in-state student in the relevant class.

A BILL to amend and reenact § 23-38.87:18 of the Code of Virginia, relating to four-year public institutions of higher education; fixed four-year tuition and other costs.

16100938D

S.B. 575

Patron: Ruff

Comprehensive community colleges; noncredit workforce credentials; Virginia Pathway to the Middle Class: Noncredit Workforce Credentials Act. Establishes the Virginia Pathway to the Middle Class: Noncredit Workforce Credentials Program (Program), to be administered by the Virginia Community College System (System). The bill requires the System to approve (i) a plan and funding formula to support capacity building for and development and expansion of noncredit workforce credential programs at comprehensive community colleges that prepare students for in-demand noncredit workforce credentials that are aligned with the knowledge and skill sets that are required for the available occupations in each region, (ii) a plan for providing financial incentives to comprehensive community colleges that demonstrate exceptional performance or improvement in the development and expansion of such noncredit workforce credential programs, and (iii) a plan and timeline for assessing the impact of a pilot set of noncredit workforce credentials on short-term and long-term job attainment and wages. The bill requires the System to submit a report to the General Assembly and the Virginia Board of Workforce Development no later than January 1 of each year with certain data from the previous fiscal year on noncredit workforce credential attainment by students at comprehensive community colleges.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 16 of Title 23 an article numbered 2.2, consisting of sections numbered 23-220.6, 23-220.7, and 23-220.8, relating to comprehensive community colleges; noncredit workforce credentials; Virginia Pathway to the Middle Class: Noncredit Workforce Credentials Act.

16102555D

S.B. 576

Patron: Ruff

Community colleges; workforce training. Establishes the Community College Workforce Training Grant Program to provide a $1,000 incentive payment to a community college for each student who (i) has successfully completed a noncredit workforce training program at the community college and (ii) subsequently obtains an industry-recognized certification or license in a high employer demand field in the region served by the community college, with such fields to be identified by the State Board for Community Colleges.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 16 of Title 23 an article numbered 2.2, consisting of sections numbered 23-220.6 and 23-220.7, relating to the Community College Workforce Training Grant Program.

16103188D

S.B. 609

Patron: Alexander

Academic credit; industry credentials. Requires the State Board for Community Colleges to adopt a policy for the award of academic credit to any student enrolled in a comprehensive community college who has successfully completed a third-party industry credential identified as in demand and applicable to the student's certificate or degree program requirements. The bill also requires the State Board, in consultation with the Virginia Board of Workforce Development and local business and industry leaders, to identify in-demand third-party industry credentials for each community college region.

A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 23-220.02, relating to academic credit; industry credentials.

16103416D

S.B. 636

Patron: Sturtevant

State Council of Higher Education; longitudinal data system; report. Requires the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, in collaboration with other state agencies, to develop and maintain a virtual, comprehensive longitudinal data system for the purposes of providing policy makers and authorized researchers access to educational, health, social service, and employment outcome data; improving the efficacy of state services; and aiding decision making. The bill also requires the Director of the State Council to establish an advisory committee and to provide an annual report to the Governor the General Assembly, and participating agencies.

 

A BILL to amend and reenact § 23-9.6:1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; longitudinal data system; report.

16103415D