STUDENT/TUITION: Provides relative to tuition and fees for certain distance education courses
This bill allows Louisiana public university and college systems to charge tuition and fees for distance education courses that are comparable to traditional in-person classes. It applies to undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs offered entirely online and gives the institution's board of supervisors the authority to set these charges. The law also permits schools to charge proportional fees for part-time students and during summer sessions or other academic periods. This change affects students enrolled in online programs at Louisiana State University, Southern University, the University of Louisiana System, and Community and Technical Colleges.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2026
Committee Review
May 2026
House Passage
Apr 2026
Senate Passage
May 2026
Signed into Law
May 2026
Introduced Mar 30, 2026
Signed May 22, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons
What changed between versions
HB1078 Original
→
HB1078 Act 334
·
3 edits
MINOR
This bill was formally enrolled and approved by the Governor, transitioning from a draft version to an official Act. The primary substantive change involves expanding the scope of tuition authority to explicitly cover professional courses in addition to academic degree programs, while also clarifying that these rules apply to non-traditional academic periods like summer sessions.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded to include professional courses and explicitly covers academic periods other than semesters or quarters.
SCOPE
Added explicit authority to charge tuition for professional courses, not just academic degree programs.
Clarified that tuition rules apply to summer sessions and other academic periods besides semesters and quarters.
TECHNICAL
Updated sponsor list to include additional representatives and changed the document status from 'Original' to 'Enrolled Act No. 334'.
Floor votes · Senate May 13, 2026 · House Apr 14, 2026
How they voted
35–0
Passed · 5 other
Total votes 40
May 13, 2026
D
Democratic12
83% Yea
R
Republican28
89% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
18
Key actions
4
Committee
4
May 13, 2026
Upper · Passed
Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 34 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
upper
May 4, 2026
Committee
Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
upper
Apr 29, 2026
Upper · Passed
Rules suspended. Reported favorably.
upper
Apr 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 85, nays 8. The bill, having received two-thirds vote of the elected members, was finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
lower
Apr 8, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably (10-0).
lower
Mar 31, 2026
Committee
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on Education.
lower
1 primary · 5 co-sponsors
Sponsors
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