A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the NC Promise Tuition Plan to provide that elizabeth city state university, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and western carolina University shall continue to set tuition rates in the same manner as all other constituent institutions; that the state shall "buy Down" the tuition rates so that resident students pay five hundred dollars and nonresident students pay two thousand five hundred dollars; and that the board of governors shall monitor the solvency of each constituent institution, and if the board finds that a constituent institution may incur unsustainable losses, The board shall take appropriate action to protect the solvency of the institution, which may include an increase in the amount of the student payments at the constituent institution.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 116‑143.11 reads as rewritten:
"§ 116‑143.11.  NC Promise Tuition Plan; State "buy down" of certain financial obligations; annual report.
(a)	The NC Promise Tuition Plan shall be established and implemented as provided by this section. The Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina shall, as provided in G.S. 116‑143 and G.S. 116‑11(7) and in consultation with the board of trustees of Elizabeth City State University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Western Carolina University, set the rate of undergraduate tuition for Elizabeth City State University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Western Carolina University. However, notwithstanding any other provision of law, beginning with the 2019‑2020 fiscal year and the 2019 fall academic semester, the Board of Governors shall establish student payment amounts as a portion of the rate of tuition for each academic year in which sufficient State funds are available in accordance with the following:
(1)	For students deemed to be North Carolina residents for purposes of tuition, the student payment shall be five hundred dollars ($500.00) per academic semester.
(2)	For nonresident students, the student payment shall be two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per academic semester.
(b)	Within available State funds, Elizabeth City State University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Western Carolina University shall receive a buy down of the amount remaining after the student payment amount is subtracted from the total undergraduate tuition rate established by the Board of Governors pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. For the purposes of this section, (i) "student payment" shall mean the portion of the established tuition rate for which a student is responsible and (ii) "buy down" shall mean a payment of State funds to reflect the cash flow loss resulting from anticipated and sustained forgone tuition receipts at each of the three constituent institutions.
(c)	When implementing the provisions of this section, the Board of Governors shall give due consideration to maintaining the unique historical character of each institution, including service to students who are first generation, college‑going, economically disadvantaged, or minority.
(c1)	The Board of Governors shall monitor the implementation and operation of the NC Promise Tuition Plan at the three constituent institutions. If the Board of Governors finds that any of the constituent institutions may incur unsustainable losses and State funds for the buy down are insufficient, the Board of Governors shall take appropriate action to enable the institution to meet its financial obligations, including, with the approval of the Office of State Budget and Management, the transfer of available funds to meet the needs of the NC Promise Tuition Plan.
(c2)	Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section and any other provision of law, for an academic year in which the Board of Governors finds the solvency of a constituent institution is jeopardized and that a buy down with available State funds shall be insufficient, even with a transfer of funds as authorized under subsection (c1) of this section, the Board of Governors shall propose an increase in the student payments set forth in subdivisions (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of this section and shall notify (i) Elizabeth City State University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Western Carolina University by April 1 and (ii) the General Assembly by May 1 of the fiscal year immediately preceding the academic year of the proposed amount of the increase in the student payment. In no event shall Elizabeth City State University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Western Carolina University collect total receipts from student payments in excess of the difference between the buy down and the rate of tuition as established by the Board of Governors.
(d)	By October 1, 2019, and by October 1 of each year thereafter, the Board of Governors and the chancellors of Elizabeth City State University, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, and Western Carolina University, respectively, shall submit a report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, the House Appropriations Committee on Education, the Senate Appropriations Committee on Education/Higher Education, and the Fiscal Research Division on the amount paid to each constituent institution as a buy down as a result of the student payments established by this section and at least the following information for the fiscal year:
(1)	The total amount of funds that were allocated to each constituent institution.
(2)	The number of enrolled resident students at each constituent institution.
(3)	The number of enrolled nonresident students at each constituent institution.
(4)	The findings and subsequent actions by the Board of Governors if a constituent institution incurs unsustainable losses.
(5)	The findings by the Board of Governors that the solvency of a constituent institution is jeopardized and the amount of an increase of student payments at the constituent institution."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with the 2019 fall academic semester.