Students from foreign countries; student exchange programs, tuition and fee waivers.
Summary
Public institutions of higher education; student exchange programs; tuition and mandatory fee waivers; conditions. Clarifies that tuition and mandatory fees may be waived for a student from a foreign country enrolled in a public institution of higher education through a formalized student exchange program between such institution and another institution of higher education, provided that the number of full-time equivalent inbound students from a foreign country for whom tuition and mandatory fees has been waived does not exceed during any three-year period the number of full-time equivalent outbound students who are enrolled through such student exchange program and who pay full tuition and mandatory fees to the institution. Current law permits tuition and mandatory fees to be waived for a student from a foreign country enrolled in a public institution of higher education through a student exchange program approved by such institution, provided that the number of students from a foreign country for whom tuition and mandatory fees has been waived does not exceed during any three-year period the number of students from a foreign country who are enrolled through such student exchange program and who pay full tuition and mandatory fees to the institution. This bill is identical to SB 1229.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
Signed into Law
Mar 2025
Introduced Jan 7, 2025
Signed Mar 21, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons
What changed between versions
Finance and Appropriations Substitute
→
Chaptered
·
2 edits
MINOR
This bill converts a Senate substitute version of HB 2156 into a chaptered version for final enactment. The substantive policy content regarding tuition waivers for foreign exchange students remains unchanged, with only formatting and session metadata adjustments made.
TECHNICAL
Removed Senate substitute metadata (bill number, amendment date, committee information) and added chaptered formatting including chapter number, approval date, and official session header.
Adjusted line breaks and spacing in the statutory text to match standard chaptered bill formatting while preserving the exact same legal language regarding tuition waiver eligibility.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 18, 2025 · House of Delegates Jan 28, 2025
How they voted
40–0
Passed
Total votes 40
Feb 18, 2025
D
Democratic21
100% Yea
R
Republican19
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
38
Key actions
10
Committee
7
Mar 21, 2025
Signed into law
Approved by Governor-Chapter 248 (Effective 07/01/25)
executive
Mar 10, 2025
Upper · Passed
Signed by President
upper
Mar 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Signed by Speaker
lower
Mar 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB2156ER)
lower
Feb 18, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate with substitute (40-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 17, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed by for the day
upper
Feb 14, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Finance and Appropriations with substitute (14-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 13, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Education and Health and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
upper
Feb 10, 2025
Committee
Assigned Education sub: Higher Education
upper
Jan 29, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education and Health
upper
Jan 28, 2025
Lower · Passed
Read third time and passed House (98-Y 1-N)
lower
Jan 22, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported from Education with substitute (22-Y 0-N)
lower
Jan 16, 2025
Committee
Assigned Educ sub: Higher Education
lower
Jan 7, 2025
Committee
Referred to Committee on Education
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Betsy Carr
DDemocratic
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