Governor Charles D. Baker's Budget Recommendation - House 1 Fiscal Year 2018

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Outside Section 77



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Tuition Retention

SECTION 77.   There shall be a task force to study the feasibility of implementing tuition retention for state universities and community colleges and the steps necessary, including statutory changes, to make implementation possible. The task force shall be chaired by the commissioner of higher education, and include the following members: the secretary of education, or a designee; two presidents from each segment, or their designees; the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on higher education or their designees; and one representative from the executive office for administration and finance. Not later than October 15, 2017, the task force shall study and report to the secretary of administration and finance and the house and senate committees on ways and means on the following matters: (a) the costs and benefits associated with implementing tuition retention in a manner that is transparent, consumer friendly, and consistent across the public higher education system, including the University of Massachusetts; (b) the implications of authorizing state universities and community colleges to set their own tuition rates, within parameters established under multi-year strategic plans approved by the board of higher education and the secretary of education; (c) the practices used across the campuses in determining the amount of tuition that is currently remitted to the Commonwealth, including how campuses and the board of higher education define "state supported" versus "non state-supported" for purposes of establishing remittance amounts and other fiscal reporting and apportionment matters; (d) potential methodologies for establishing a revenue neutral implementation plan, including the mitigation of revenue variability due to fluctuations in enrollments; (e) the possibility of phasing in tuition retention over several years or implementing it on separate timelines for the state university and community college segments; and (f) any Commonwealth financial obligations, such as fringe costs, that may be affected by the implementation of tuition retention.



Summary:
This section creates a task force to evaluate the feasibility of plans to allow all state universities and community colleges to retain tuition revenues in a manner similar to that granted to the University of Massachusetts in the fiscal year 2016 budget.



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