Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 15A of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 5 the following section:-

Section 5A. The board of regents of higher education is hereby authorized to fix and establish, as the charges for tuition at all institutions of public higher education to aliens in this country, under the provisions of an F-1, United States nonimmigrant visa, issued by the Department of Immigration, who are nonresidents of the commonwealth, the amount of money equal to the average amount necessary to maintain a student at such an institution; provided, however, that prior to the establishment of any system of tuition charges which requires the payment of tuition by such alien students who are nonresidents of the commonwealth at a higher level than that required to be paid by other students who are nonresidents of the commonwealth, the board shall seek and obtain a written opinion of the attorney general that such system of charges does not contravene the guarantees of equal protection under the laws contained in the Constitutions of the United States and the commonwealth.

SECTION 2. The provisions of this act shall not apply to any nonresident alien who became a student at an institution of public higher education in the commonwealth prior to the effective date, nor any alien student whose family resides in the commonwealth nor to any student who is a full time graduate student. The provisions of this act shall not apply when reciprocal agreements exist between commonwealth supported schools and foreign schools of higher education.