§3351.20. Mandatory fees

A.(1) In addition to the authority granted by any other provision of law, including but not limited to R.S. 17:3139.5, 3351.7, and 3351.8, and in accordance with Article VII, Section 2.1 of the Constitution of Louisiana, the Legislature of Louisiana hereby authorizes the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, the Board of Supervisors of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System, and the Board of Supervisors of Louisiana Community and Technical Colleges to establish at each institution under their respective management and supervision mandatory fees to be charged to students enrolled at such institutions and to adjust the amounts of such fees as they deem necessary. Such authority shall apply for the 2015-2016 through the 2019-2020 academic years only, and the authority to increase fees pursuant thereto shall terminate on June 30, 2020.

(2) The revenue per full-time equivalent student from all tuition and fee amounts charged to a student plus the revenue per full-time equivalent student from state and local appropriations shall not exceed the national average of total per full-time equivalent student revenue from state appropriations, local appropriations, tuition, and fees as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics by Carnegie classification, which maximum amount may be annually adjusted based on the most recent full-time equivalent funding statistics as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics and adjusted to the current fiscal year using the Higher Education Price Index. This Paragraph shall not apply to the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans, the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - Shreveport, the pharmacy program at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, or the Southern University Law Center.

(3) The total of all tuition and fee amounts charged to a student enrolled in the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - New Orleans, the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center - Shreveport, the pharmacy program at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, or the Southern University Law Center shall not exceed the tuition and fees charged, as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics, of national peers selected by the institution, which maximum amount may be annually adjusted based on the most recent tuition and fee amounts per full-time equivalent student as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics and adjusted to the current fiscal year using the Higher Education Price Index.

B.(1) The authority granted by Subsection A of this Section includes the authority to impose per-credit fees, to impose differential fees for certain programs exclusive of others, and to charge proportional amounts for part-time students and for summer sessions.

(2) The authority granted by Subsection A of this Section is not subject to any limitation on the authority to establish fees and set fee amounts provided for in R.S. 17:3139 et seq.

C. Each management board shall establish a need-based financial assistance fund at each of its member institutions. Each institution shall allocate to its fund funds from its operating budget in an amount not less than five percent of revenues realized by the institution from fees assessed pursuant to this Section. Such funds shall be used to provide need-based financial assistance to students at that institution who are eligible to receive a Pell Grant.

D. No revenues generated by fees imposed pursuant to this Section shall be used for any other purpose except for support of the university at which the fees were collected.

E. The authority granted in Subsection A of this Section includes the authority to impose a fee for the administration of any student surveys required or authorized by law.

F. Each postsecondary education management board shall submit a written report to the Senate Committee on Education and the House Committee on Education not later than February fifteenth of 2018, 2019, and 2020 regarding how the fees authorized by this Section are being implemented at each institution under its supervision and management, including an overview of the distribution of the monies in the need-based financial assistance fund as provided in Subsection C of this Section.

Acts 2015, No. 377, §1, eff. July 1, 2015; Acts 2017, No. 97, §1; Acts 2017, No. 293, §1.