BILL NUMBER: S1396

SPONSOR: LIU
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring colleges,
universities, professional, proprietary, and graduate schools to provide
a notice of tuition liability policies

 
PURPOSE OF BILL:

To ensure students at any level of higher education are aware of their
institution's withdrawal policy, the impact that withdrawal has on
tuition owed, and any processes and policy which may exempt students
from tuition owed after withdrawal.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

This bill requires all institutions of higher education to provide writ-
ten notice of their tuition liability policy to students. The notice
must be in both electronic and hard copy, sent multiple times during the
academic year, and the student must acknowledge understanding and
              

receipt of the policy and its exceptions.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

It is very common for students in higher education to leave school for a
multitude of reasons related to health, personal hardship, or family
circumstances. Institutions of higher education will oftentimes have
tuition liability policies that require students to withdraw from school
by a specific date or otherwise be financially liable for full tuition
costs. Institutions may also have policies to waive this liability where
circumstances are beyond the student's control; however, many students
are not aware of these policies and waivers, leaving students with
substantial tuition bills that they later cannot afford to pay and
oftentimes default on payments. This legislation seeks to provide
students with greater notice of tuition liability policies in order to
ensure that students are aware of all deadlines and waiver processes to
prevent students from defaulting on their student loans. Students should
have consistent notice of their institution's tuition liability policy
and have knowledge of the process for utilizing the policy's exemptions
when hardships arise. Such exemptions, when utilized, may protect
students from full tuition liability.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

05/04/22 referred to higher education

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:;
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become law.