53B-8-101.  Waiver of tuition.

(1) 

Terms Used In Utah Code 53B-8-101

  • Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
  • Board: means the Utah Board of Higher Education described in Section 53B-1-402. See Utah Code 53B-1-101.5
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
(a)  The president of an institution of higher education described in Section 53B-2-101 may waive all or part of the tuition on behalf of meritorious or impecunious resident students to an amount not exceeding 10% of the total amount of tuition which, in the absence of the waivers, would have been collected from all Utah resident students at the institution of higher education.

(b) 

(i)  Two and a half percent of the waivers designated in Subsection (1)(a) shall be set aside for members of the Utah National Guard.

(ii)  A waiver described in Subsection (1)(b)(i) shall be preserved by the student at least 60 days before the beginning of an academic term.

(2) 

(a)  A president of an institution of higher education listed in Subsections 53B-2-101(1)(a) through (h) may waive all or part of the nonresident portion of tuition for a meritorious nonresident undergraduate student.

(b)  In determining which students are meritorious for purposes of granting a tuition waiver under Subsection (2)(a), a president shall consider students who are performing above the average at the institution of higher education, including having an admissions index higher than the average for the institution, if an admissions index is used.

(c)  A president of an institution of higher education may continue to waive the nonresident portion of tuition for a student described in Subsection (2)(a) for as long as the student is enrolled at the institution of higher education.

(d)  In addition to waiving the nonresident portion of tuition for a meritorious nonresident student under Subsection (2)(a), a president of an institution of higher education may waive the resident portion of tuition after the meritorious nonresident student completes a year of full-time study at the institution of higher education.

(3)  To encourage students to enroll for instruction in occupations critical to the state for which trained personnel are in short supply, a president of an institution of higher education shall grant additional full or partial tuition waivers upon recommendation of the board.

(4)  A president of an institution of higher education may waive all or part of the difference between resident and nonresident tuition for:

(a)  meritorious graduate students; or

(b)  nonresident summer school students.

(5)  The board may establish policies that:

(a)  require an institution of higher education described in Subsections 53B-2-101(1)(a) through (h) to regularly assess and report whether the institution of higher education’s use of tuition waivers supports the goals established by the board in accordance with Section 53B-1-402 for the institution of higher education;

(b)  subject to the provisions of this section, establish the amount or percentage of tuition that an institution of higher education may waive;

(c)  define the terms “meritorious” and “impecunious,” as the terms apply to tuition waivers for resident students described in Subsection (1)(a); and

(d)  establish limitations on an institution of higher education’s allocation of waivers described in Subsection (1)(a) for resident students who are meritorious or resident students who are impecunious.

(6) 

(a)  The board shall submit an annual budget appropriation request for each institution of higher education described in Section 53B-2-101.

(b)  A request described in Subsection (6)(a) shall include requests for funds sufficient in amount to equal the estimated loss of dedicated credits that would be realized if all of the tuition waivers authorized by Subsection (2) were granted.

Amended by Chapter 365, 2020 General Session