Bill clarifies student residency

Thursday, Feb. 17, 2005 | 9:37 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A bill to cure the controversy about colleges overcharging nonresident students hundreds of thousands of dollars received favorable treatment from the Senate Human Resources and Education Committee Wednesday.

Committee Chairman Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, said after the meeting the committee would approve the bill, Senate Bill 32, to require out-of-state students to live in Nevada for one year before being exempt from nonresident tuition.

The present law permits those living in Nevada for six months to escape the tuition fee, which conflicts with the university requirement for a one-year residency.

The bill conforms the law to the policy of the board of regents.

At present a full-time non-resident student at the universities is charged $9,467 per year. The non-resident tuition at the Nevada State College is $7,191 and at the community colleges it is $4,915.

Assistant Chancellor Trudy Larson and Vice Chancellor Christine Chairsell told the committee the 12-month residency requirement is in line with other states. There's a fear there would be an influx of out-of-state students because of the low registration fees.

When the law requiring a six-month residency requirement was called to the attention of the system, a refund was ordered. Chairsell said as of August $479,000 has been refunded. The refunds have been approved for 36 percent of those who applied, she said.

Students who come into Nevada and find a job right away are considered residents and get the exemption from the tuition. But all students must pay the registration fee that is $98 per credit at the universities, $74.50 per credit at the Nevada State College in Henderson and $50.75 per credit at the community colleges.

The bill also upped the residency requirement to one year for student nurses in order to qualify for loans, which was questioned by Sens. Joe Heck and Barbara Cegavske, both Las Vegas Republicans, who pointed out that the state is trying to recruit nurses because of the shortage.

Chairsell, vice chancellor for academics and student affairs, said the system was agreeable to returning the residency requirement to six months for a student loan for those in the nursing program.

Washington said that amendment would be made to the bill and formal passage could come at the next meeting of the committee.

The bill did not draw any opposition and committee members seemed more interested in the Millennium Scholarships. Committee members asked the racial makeup of those getting the scholarships.

Tyler Trevor, assistance vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, said the ethnic distribution of those receiving Millennium Scholarships mirrors the population makeup. But he said only 4.7 percent of the Millennium Scholars are "African American compared to the 7.1 percent in the population."