Budget Amendment ID: FY2017-S4-173-R2

2nd Redraft EDU 173

College Affordability Study

Messrs. Fattman, Tarr, Lesser and Ross moved that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section 77 the following section:-

“SECTION 77A. There shall be a special commission to investigate the issue of college affordability.  The commission shall examine and make recommendations on the contributing factors to rising tuition and fee costs at institutes of higher education in the commonwealth. For the purposes of this section, the term “institutes of higher education” shall include public and private institutes of higher education.

The commission’s investigation shall include, but not be limited to, the following areas: (i) employee expenditures including, but not limited to, employee issued credit cards and expense accounts; (ii) vacation and sick time policies for administrative employees; (iii) salaries, bonuses and stipends for administrative employees and professors including, but not limited to, tenured and non-tenured, associate and part-time professors and instructors who are members of collective bargaining units and who are considering joining collective bargaining units; (iv) professor class load; (v) the number of administrative positions at institutes of higher education and their descriptions; (vi) the cost and benefit of construction projects on campuses of institutes of higher education; (vii) endowments and annual profits of institutes of higher education; (viii) mandatory fees charged to students beyond the price of tuition charges, including technology and laboratory fees; (ix) the affordability of college textbooks including, but not limited to, the costs and benefits of open source textbooks; (x) ways for an institute of higher education to directly credit a student’s account with funds to pay for books and supplies in accordance with 34 C.F.R. 668.164(c)(2); and (xi) the cost differences and composition of online credit hours versus on-campus credit hour.

The commission shall consist of the following members: 1 member of the senate; 1 member of the senate who shall be appointed by the senate minority leader; 1 member of the house of representatives; 1 member of the house of representatives who shall be appointed by the minority leader; a representative of the University of Massachusetts office of the president; a representative of the University of Massachusetts director of libraries;  2 members of the student advisory council to the board of education; a representative from the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority; a representative from department of higher education; a member of the board of higher education; a representative of the Massachusetts State College Association, Inc.; a representative of the Massachusetts Community Colleges Executive Office; a representative of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation; a representative of the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants, Inc.;  a representative of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, Inc.; and 5 members who shall be appointed by the governor, 1 of whom shall have expertise in finance and investment, 1 of whom shall be an expert in student loan debt and 3 of whom shall be parents or guardians of students currently enrolled in institutes of higher education. The chair of the commission shall be elected by a majority vote of the members.

The commission shall hold its first meeting not later than September 1, 2016 and file a report of its findings and recommendations with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives and the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on higher education by March 1, 2017.”