Legislation Sent to Governor to Assist Students Displaced By Hurricane Katrina

California’s institutions of public higher education have stepped forward to assist students enrolled in universities and colleges in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi who are victims of Hurricane Katrina. Education leaders have announced that it is important that students who were enrolled in schools in the Gulf Region are able to continue their education uninterrupted. The Governor has directed California’s community colleges to make sure that students are able to attend classes until the educational facilities in the Gulf Region can be reopened.In order for California community colleges to be of assistance, there needs to be modification to existing law as it pertains to nonresident tuition. Districts currently do not have the authority to waive nonresident tuition for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. However, individuals who were living in the affected states who have retained their California residency would be able to return to California and apply for admission to the community colleges as residents. Thus, during the final days of the 2005 legislative session, AB 1646 was amended to provide community college districts with the authority to waive nonresident tuition for Gulf Region students affected by Hurricane Katrina. Read the rest of this entry »