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2019 SESSION

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Senate Committee on Education and Health
Subcommittee Higher Education

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

Staff: Thomas Stevens
Date of Meeting: January 17, 2019
Time and Place: Immediately upon Adj.-Subcommittee Rm. 3, 5th Fl, Pocahontas Bldg
Correction in meeting room number

S.B. 1112

Patron: Howell


Qualified education loan servicers. Prohibits any person from acting as a qualified education loan servicer except in accordance with provisions established by this bill. The bill requires a loan servicer to obtain a license from the State Corporation Commission (SCC) and establishes procedures pertaining to such licenses. Banks, savings institutions, credit unions, and nonprofit institutions of higher education are exempt from the licensing provisions. The servicing of a qualified education loan encompasses (i) receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a qualified education loan borrower pursuant to the terms of a qualified education loan; (ii) applying the payments of principal and interest and such other payments, with respect to the amounts received from a qualified education loan borrower, as may be required pursuant to the terms of a qualified education loan; and (iii) performing other administrative services with respect to a qualified education loan. Qualified education loan servicers are prohibited from, among other things, (a) misrepresenting the amount, nature, or terms of any fee or payment due or claimed to be due on a qualified education loan, the terms and conditions of the loan agreement, or the borrower's obligations under the loan; (b) knowingly misapplying or recklessly applying loan payments to the outstanding balance of a qualified education loan; and (c) failing to report both the favorable and unfavorable payment history of the borrower to a nationally recognized consumer credit bureau at least annually if the loan servicer regularly reports information to such a credit bureau. Violations are subject to a civil penalty not exceeding $2,500. The bill has a delayed effective date of July 1, 2020, but provides that applications shall be accepted, and investigations commenced, by the SCC beginning March 1, 2020.

S.B. 1118

Patron: Petersen

Public institutions of higher education; tuition and fee increases; public comment. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education, prior to a vote on an increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees, to permit public comment on the proposed increase at a meeting of the governing board. The bill requires each such governing board to establish policies for such public comment, which may include reasonable time limitations.

S.B. 1204

Patron: Stuart

Public institutions of higher education; student approval of increase in tuition or mandatory fees. Provides that no increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees approved by a governing board of a public institution of higher education will take effect unless such increase receives an affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of undergraduate students enrolled in such institution.

S.B. 1234

Patron: DeSteph

Governing boards of public institutions of higher education; educational programs. Requires educational programs for the governing boards of public institutions of higher education to include presentations relating to student debt trends.

S.B. 1239

Patron: DeSteph

Higher education; members of governing boards; duties. Provides that the primary duty of any member of a governing board of a public institution of higher education is to the Commonwealth. The bill requires that the educational programs for the governing boards of public institutions of higher education, developed by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, shall include presentations on such primary duty.

S.B. 1261

Patron: Sturtevant

Public institutions of higher education; tuition and fee increases; public comment. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education, prior to a vote on an increase in undergraduate tuition or mandatory fees, to permit public comment on the proposed increase at a meeting of the governing board. The bill requires each such governing board to establish policies for such public comment, which may include reasonable time limitations.

S.B. 1461

Patron: McClellan

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; certification of certain private schools; exemptions. Provides that certain courses or programs of instruction are exempt from certification requirements and regulation by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. The bill provides that any course or program of instruction designed to prepare students to achieve a passing score on an industry certification exam administered by a trade or occupational association or similar association is exempt provided that (i) regional or national certifications are commonplace in the employment marketplace in the relevant industry, (ii) any instructor of the course or program is approved or certified as an instructor by such trade or occupational association, and (iii) such course or program of instruction is offered by an instructor that does not offer any courses or programs of instruction for preparation for an exam administered by any additional trade or occupational association.

S.B. 1546

Patron: Sturtevant

Higher education; in-state tuition. Prohibits, without the prior statutory approval of the General Assembly, any percentage increase in in-state tuition for undergraduate students at Virginia's public institutions of higher education that exceeds twice the annual percentage increase, as determined by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, 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.

S.B. 1616

Patron: Wagner

Public institutions of higher education; tuition and mandatory fees. Declares the governing board of any public institution of higher education for which the average increase in the amount of undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees over the most recent 10-academic-year period exceeds the average increase in the amount of undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees over such period across each public institution of higher education ineligible to increase undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees for the subsequent academic year. The bill permits each other public institution of higher education to increase undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees for the subsequent academic year by a certain percentage, but prohibits any such percentage increase from exceeding the following product: the annual percentage increase 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 relevant academic year, multiplied by a certain factor that is based on the size of the increase in the undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees over the most recent 10-academic-year period.

S.B. 1660

Patron: Stanley

Baccalaureate public institutions of higher education; fixed four-year tuition rate. Requires the governing board of each baccalaureate public institution of higher education to prospectively fix the cost of tuition for incoming freshman Virginia students for four consecutive years, subject to eligibility conditions, beginning with the 2021-2022 academic year. The bill also provides that such institutions may additionally offer a variable in-state tuition rate as an option for such eligible students. The bill exempts the governing board of any such institution that maintains an undergraduate student population composed of at least 80 percent Virginia students from the requirement to establish a four-year fixed tuition rate.