A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide that out‑of‑state tuition must be set at a level to recover not less than the full cost of the education.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 116‑144 reads as rewritten:
"§ 116‑144.  Higher tuition to be charged nonresidents.
(a)	The Board of Governors shall fix the tuition and required fees charged nonresidents of North Carolina who attend the institutions enumerated in G.S. 116‑4 at rates higher than the rates charged residents of North Carolina. The tuition charged nonresidents shall be set at a rate that recovers not less than the full education costs of the nonresident students. For purposes of this subsection, the term "full education costs" means the average general and educational costs incurred by the constituent institution in its General Fund Budget Code.
(b)	Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, a person who serves as a graduate teaching assistant or graduate research assistant or in a similar instructional or research assignment and is at the same time enrolled as a graduate student in the same institution may, in the discretion of the Board of Governors, be charged a lower rate fixed by the Board, provided the rate is not lower than the North Carolina resident rate."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to academic periods beginning on or after July 1, 2003.