Public postsecondary education: exemption from payment of nonresident tuition.

(1) Existing law exempts a student, other than a nonimmigrant alien, as defined, from paying nonresident tuition at the California State University and the California Community Colleges if the student has a total of 3 or more years of full-time attendance in specified California schools, or attainment of equivalent credits earned while in those schools, or the student completes 3 or more years of full-time high school coursework in California and a total of 3 or more years of attendance in California elementary schools and California secondary schools. Existing law also requires, for students transferring from campuses of the California Community Colleges, that the student graduate from a California high school or attain the equivalent, attain an associate degree from a campus of the California Community Colleges, or fulfill minimum transfer requirements established for the University of California or the California State University. This bill would reduce to 2 years the duration of full-time attendance or attainment of equivalent credits that would be required for the exemption from nonresident tuition at the institutions referenced above. The bill would request the Regents of the University of California to enact exemptions from requirements to pay nonresident tuition for its students that are equivalent to those that would be applicable to students of the California Community Colleges and the California State University pursuant to this bill. Because the bill would impose new duties on community college districts with respect to determining eligibility for exemptions from paying nonresident tuition, the bill would constitute a state-mandated local program. (2) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.