Spring 2024
WHEREAS, “Education Code section 76140 requires each district governing board to establish the nonresident tuition fee for the succeeding fiscal year by March 1” [1];
WHEREAS, Using the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District’s 2022-2023 calculations as an example [2], fees could have been potentially doubled depending on the option used to calculate the nonresident fee (Options A through E laid out Education Code §76140 [1]) – some options being, for instance, to raise the fee from $290 (as per the Vice President of Administrative Services at Evergreen Valley College) to $584 (101% increase as per option A.1), $414 (42.8% increase as per Options B.1 and B.2), $358 (23.4% increase as per Option C), between $414-$584 (as per option D) and $400 (37.9% increase as per option E) [3];
WHEREAS, Option C of Education Code §76140 allows for a school district to set the nonresident fee for the succeeding fiscal year not to exceed the amount set by a contiguous district [1]; and
WHEREAS, Many nonresident students rely on an F-1 visa (international students) which means they can only work on campus for their first two academic semesters and have limited/approved job options once allowed to work off campus [4], and thus, many nonresident students attend community college for the lowered cost; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That Student Senate for California Community Colleges monitor the discussion of nonresident fee increases happening within each region by having each college’s delegate work with student trustees from each district to get all calculated possible nonresident fees for the next year, calculated as per the guidelines provided by the Education Code §76140;
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges research the lowest possible nonresident fee from the set of contiguous districts within the region and then advocate for each district to adopt that as the nonresident fee for the next fiscal year as per Option C of Education Code §76140;
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges collaborate with members of college student body associations to disseminate the fee increase information to impacted students as soon as the issue is voted on at district board meetings in order to give impacted students time to make plans; and
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges continue to discuss ways that each region can help nonresident students impacted by policies centering the voices of nonresident students.
WHEREAS, Using the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District’s 2022-2023 calculations as an example [2], fees could have been potentially doubled depending on the option used to calculate the nonresident fee (Options A through E laid out Education Code §76140 [1]) – some options being, for instance, to raise the fee from $290 (as per the Vice President of Administrative Services at Evergreen Valley College) to $584 (101% increase as per option A.1), $414 (42.8% increase as per Options B.1 and B.2), $358 (23.4% increase as per Option C), between $414-$584 (as per option D) and $400 (37.9% increase as per option E) [3];
WHEREAS, Option C of Education Code §76140 allows for a school district to set the nonresident fee for the succeeding fiscal year not to exceed the amount set by a contiguous district [1]; and
WHEREAS, Many nonresident students rely on an F-1 visa (international students) which means they can only work on campus for their first two academic semesters and have limited/approved job options once allowed to work off campus [4], and thus, many nonresident students attend community college for the lowered cost; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, That Student Senate for California Community Colleges monitor the discussion of nonresident fee increases happening within each region by having each college’s delegate work with student trustees from each district to get all calculated possible nonresident fees for the next year, calculated as per the guidelines provided by the Education Code §76140;
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges research the lowest possible nonresident fee from the set of contiguous districts within the region and then advocate for each district to adopt that as the nonresident fee for the next fiscal year as per Option C of Education Code §76140;
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges collaborate with members of college student body associations to disseminate the fee increase information to impacted students as soon as the issue is voted on at district board meetings in order to give impacted students time to make plans; and
RESOLVED, That the Student Senate for California Community Colleges continue to discuss ways that each region can help nonresident students impacted by policies centering the voices of nonresident students.