Two bills affecting prospective WTCS students are moving through the state legislature.

The first piece of legislation would allow the WTCS to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Under current law, the WTCS State President is permitted to remit nonresident fees as long as the total number of students receiving such remission does not exceed 0.5% of statewide WTCS enrollment.

Assembly Bill 805, authored by Rep. Suzanne Jeskewitz, allows the WTCS State President to exceed that limit to grant nonresident fee remission to victims of Hurricane Katrina. The bill would require Katrina victims to pay only resident fees.

2005-06 nonresident fees are $510.30 per credit ($15,309 per FTE) for postsecondary programs and $312.35 ($9,317 per FTE) for collegiate transfer programs. 2005-06 resident fees are $80.50 per credit ($2,415 per FTE) and $109.10 per credit ($3,273 per FTE) respectively.

The State Assembly passed AB 805 in late December. On January 18, 2006 the Senate Committee on Higher Education and Tourism unanimously passed the bill. As of this writing, the bill awaited passage by the entire Senate.

Two additional bills – AB 774 (Rep. Lothian) and its companion, Senate Bill 370 (Sen. Brown) – extends eligibility for Academic Excellence Higher Education Scholarship.

The Academic Excellence Scholarship, which exempts students from tuition and fees up to $2,250, is awarded based on grade point average to students who enroll in either the University of Wisconsin or Wisconsin Technical College System. However, under current law, students who choose to enroll in the WTCS must choose an associate degree program to receive the scholarship.

The bills would allow students who opt to enroll in a 2-year technical college vocational diploma program to receive the Academic Excellence Scholarship.

On January 18, 2006 the Senate Committee on Higher Education and Tourism unanimously passed SB 370, sending the bill to the entire Senate. AB 774 has passed the Assembly Committee on Workforce Development.

WEAC is registered in support of both the fee remission and Academic Excellence Scholarship legislation.