Brief⁽¹⁾

H.B. 2748 addresses two matters. They are described below.

Community College Outdistrict Tuition

Inapplicable Under Contractual

Arrangements Involving Community

Colleges and Wichita State University

or Fort Hays State University

Outdistrict tuition may not be charged for courses offered by a community college at Fort Hays State University (FHSU) and Wichita State University (WSU) under an agreement between the community college and the university. The law currently addressing this matter contains a June 30, 1998, sunset date. An amendment extends the sunset date to June 30, 2000.

Removal of 64/72 Hour Cap on Community

College Outdistrict Tuition and Outdistrict

State Aid

The 64/72 hour cap on the payment of community college outdistrict tuition and outdistrict state aid is eliminated.

Background

H.B. 2748, as introduced, addressed only the first item described above.

The original legislation regarding this issue was enacted in 1993 at the request of the Community College Task Force. It established a pilot program at FHSU. The following year, WSU was added. As introduced, H.B. 2748 would have eliminated the sunset date. The House Appropriations Committee amendment extended the sunset date to June 30, 2000. The fiscal note on H.B. 2748, as introduced, indicated that the bill's passage would not have a fiscal impact on the state or local governments. Not passing the bill would require additional payments by affected county governments to community colleges for out-district tuition.

The provision regarding removal of the 64/72 hour cap was added in the House Committee of the Whole. Under the current law, outdistrict tuition (paid by counties) and outdistrict state aid generally are paid to community colleges on behalf of Kansas resident students who reside outside of the community college district. However, the current law does not authorize such payments for a student who has amassed more than 64 credit hours from a postsecondary educational institution or 72 hours, if enrollment is in a terminal-type nursing course or freshman-sophomore level preengineering course. An exception to this limitation applies if the student is enrolled in an approved vocational education program for the purpose of receiving vocational or technical training or retraining in preparation for gainful employment. The State Department of Education has estimated that this amendment would increase the cost to the state by about $1.5 million per year. The cost to counties also would increase by a similar amount.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/fulltext-bill.html.