76140.
(a) A community college district may admit and shall charge a tuition fee to nonresident students. The district may exempt from all or parts of the fee any person described in paragraph (1) or (2):(1) All nonresidents who enroll for six or fewer units. Exemptions made pursuant to this paragraph shall not be made on an individual basis.
(2) Any nonresident who is both a citizen and resident of a foreign country, if the nonresident has demonstrated a financial need for the exemption. Not more than 10 percent of the nonresident foreign students attending any community college district may be so exempted. Exemptions made pursuant to this paragraph may be made on an individual basis.
(b) A district may contract with a state, a county contiguous to California, the federal government, or a foreign country, or an agency thereof, for payment of all or a part of a nonresident student’s tuition fee.
(c) Nonresident students shall not be reported as full-time equivalent students (FTES) for state apportionment purposes, except as provided by subdivision (k) or another statute, in which case a nonresident tuition fee may not be charged.
(d) The nonresident tuition fee shall be set by the governing board of each community college district not later than February 1 of each year for the succeeding fiscal year. The governing board of each community college district shall provide nonresident students with notice of nonresident tuition fee changes during the spring term before the fall term in which the change will take effect. Nonresident tuition fee increases shall be gradual, moderate, and predictable. The fee may be paid in installments, as determined by the governing board of the district.
(e) The fee established by the governing board pursuant to subdivision (d) shall represent for nonresident students enrolled in 30 semester units or 45 quarter units of credit per fiscal year (1) the amount that was expended by the district for the expense of education as defined by the California Community College Budget and Accounting Manual in the preceding fiscal year increased by the projected percent increase in the United States Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Finance for the current fiscal year and succeeding fiscal year and divided by the FTES (including nonresident students) attending in the district in the preceding fiscal year, (2) the expense of education in the preceding fiscal year of all districts increased by the projected percent increase in the United States Consumer Price Index as determined by the Department of Finance for the fiscal year and succeeding fiscal year and divided by the FTES (including nonresident students) attending all districts during the preceding fiscal year, (3) an amount not to exceed the fee established by the governing board of any contiguous district, or (4) an amount not to exceed the amount that was expended by the district for the expense of education, but in no case less than the statewide average as set forth in paragraph (2). However, if for the district’s preceding fiscal year FTES of all students attending in the district in noncredit courses is equal to, or greater than, 10 percent of the district’s total FTES attending in the district, the district, in calculating the amount in paragraph (1), may substitute, instead, the data for expense of education in grades 13 and 14 and FTES in grades 13 and 14 attending in the district.
(f) The governing board of each community college district also shall adopt a tuition fee per unit of credit for nonresident students enrolled in more or less than 15 units of credit per term by dividing the fee determined in subdivision (e) by 30 for colleges operating on the semester system and 45 for colleges operating on the quarter system and rounding to the nearest whole dollar. The same rate shall be uniformly charged nonresident students attending any terms or sessions maintained by the community college. The rate charged shall be the rate established for the fiscal year in which the term or session ends.
(g) In adopting a tuition fee for nonresident students, the governing board of each community college district shall consider nonresident tuition fees of public community colleges in other states.
(h) Any loss in district revenue generated by the nonresident tuition fee shall not be offset by additional state funding.
(i) Any district that has fewer than 1,500 FTES and whose boundary is within 10 miles of another state that has a reciprocity agreement with California governing student attendance and fees may exempt students from that state from the mandatory fee requirement described in subdivision (a) for nonresident students.
(j) Any district or college within a multicollege district that has more than 1,500, but less than 3,001, FTES and whose service boundary is within 10 miles of another state that has a reciprocity agreement with California governing student attendance and fees may, in any one fiscal year, exempt up to 100 FTES from that state from the mandatory fee requirement described in subdivision (a) for nonresident students.
(k) The attendance of nonresident students who are exempted pursuant to subdivision (i) or (j) from the mandatory fee requirement described in subdivision (a) for nonresident students may be reported as resident FTES for state apportionment purposes. Any nonresident student reported as a resident FTES for state apportionment purposes pursuant to subdivision (i) or (j) shall pay a fee of forty-two dollars ($42) per course unit. That fee shall be included in the FTES adjustments described in subdivision (b) of Section 84751 for the purposes of computing apportionments.