A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide that out‑of‑state tuition must be set at a rate equal to at least one hundred fifty percent of the academic cost to the state.
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 is at least equal to one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the academic cost to the State. For purposes of this subsection, the term "academic cost to the State" 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.