Relating to tuition, degree programs, employment, and related matters pertaining to students enrolled at regents institutions

This bill relates to tuition, degree programs, employment, and related matters pertaining to students enrolled at regents institutions. The bill provides that the final decision by the state board of regents (board) on an increase in tuition charged to all students at an institution for a fiscal year shall be made at a regular meeting of the board held no later than December of the previous fiscal year. The bill requires the board to limit any annual increase in tuition or mandatory fees charged for a fiscal year to all students at a regents institution who are in-state residents to no more than percent. The bill requires the board to direct each regents institution to establish a policy whereby the tuition amount charged to students classified as residents that is charged to an undergraduate student in the student’s first academic year of enrollment will not increase in the student’s subsequent academic years of undergraduate enrollment. This requirement applies to a student’s first academic year of enrollment that begins in or after 2026. The bill provides limitations on this requirement. The bill requires the board to direct each regents institution to offer at least one baccalaureate degree program that can be completed in three years by the academic year beginning in 2027. The bill requires the board to direct each regents institution to establish a work plus program no later than the academic year beginning in 2027. The program shall allow an undergraduate student to engage in part-time employment while pursuing a baccalaureate degree with the employer being financially responsible for tuition and mandatory fees during semesters of employment. A student and employer participating in the program must sign an agreement, in a form established by the regents institution, to comply with the requirements of the program which provides the rights and responsibilities of both parties. The agreement must at minimum provide for the student to perform part-time work for the employer for at least one semester while enrolled at the institution, for the employer to pay the student the state or federal minimum wage, and for the employer to be financially responsible for all tuition and mandatory fees owed by the student during semesters in which the student is employed. The bill requires each institution to establish a registration process for employers participating in the program.