Bill Caption

Relating to performance-based tuition limitations for certain public institutions of higher education.

Fiscal Notes

No significant fiscal implication to State or local government.

Bill Analysis

SB 778 would require higher institutions of education, other than public state colleges, to meet certain designated performance measures in the most recent fiscal year preceding the academic year in order to increase tuition.  Certain performance measures include total number of undergraduate degrees awarded, measures on how many undergraduate students have reached certain levels of completion on their degree plans, average length of enrollment, and similar measures. The Higher Education Coordinating Board would determine in conjunction with the Legislative Budget Board if the institution achieved the performance measures. A institution would be considered to have reached a target level if 98 percent of the measure has been achieved. 

Vote Recommendation Notes

SB 778 is a step in the right direction, since it would require oversight on tuition raises by universities. Currently, public universities can raise tuition as much as they want, which has resulted in increasing student debt. While we are generally supportive of the bill's aims, the bill does not do an adequate job of meeting those aims due to the performance metrics used and because it essentially results in universities deciding their success at meeting those metrics. There are other bills under consideration by the Senate that approach the general topic without these deficiencies.  For these reasons, we are neutral on this legislation.