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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Nava

DATE TYPED 02/03/05 HB

SHORT TITLE Full-Time Post-Secondary Students

SB 130

ANALYST Williams

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

Indeterminate,

but not expected

to be large

Recurring

Lottery Tuition

Scholarship

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Relates to numerous lottery scholarship and student financial aid bills

REVENUE

Estimated Revenue

Subsequent

Years Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

Indeterminate,

but not expected

to be large

Recurring Potentially other

state funds

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Revenue Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Commission on Higher Education (CHE)

New Mexico Lottery Authority

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Endorsed by the Legislative Education Study Committee.

Senate Bill 130 provides explicit statutory authorization to address lottery scholarship eligibility

for post-secondary students taking required courses at another institution. In these cases, the to-

tal semester credit hours will be used to determine full-time enrollment status for the purposes of

Senate Bill 130 -- Page 2

lottery eligibility. An institution cannot deny eligibility for the lottery tuition scholarship to

these students without ten day’s notice and an opportunity for the student to demonstrate the ex-

istence of a full-time course load.

Appeals may be made to the commission on higher education, which has 20 days to consider the

appeal. Institutions found in violation must reimburse to the student an amount equal to tuition,

books and fees for each course taken during that semester.

Significant Issues

At the present time, this situation this bill is intended to address may cause students to face un-

certainty over lottery scholarship eligibility. Further, there are concerns that students and/or their

families may have to pay for the tuition related to these courses, then be reimbursed once the

“home” institution reflects all completed courses on a student’s transcript. A stronger mecha-

nism to address lottery scholarship eligibility on a semester-by-semester basis could address

these uncertainties and financial hardships and could be a positive factor for student persistence

and graduation.

Note among the requirements for lottery scholarship eligibility is that the student must be en-

rolled in a certificate or degree-granting program and complete 12 credit hours or more at an eli-

gible New Mexico public college or university, the first regular semester immediately following

high school graduation. Among the continuing eligibility requirements, students must continue

to meet this criteria.

CHE notes the intent of this legislation could be addressed through additions to the New Mexico

Administrative Code, NMAC 5-7-20 Success Scholarship Program and NMAC 5-55-3 Transfer

and Articulation.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The extent of this problem is not clear. Data has been requested from the CHE to determine the

number of students in this situation. If the legislative intent is to restrict this authorization to re-

quired courses, then the total fiscal impact is probably not large. The potential implications for

students and their families could be significant.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

CHE notes:

“Additional reporting and verification responsibilities could impact post-secondary institutions

and the CHE. This legislation could require university registrars and financial aid administrators

to certify all outside required courses, without an official system to track complex enrollment

situations, appeals, qualifying semester and reimbursement awards.

The CHE would require an additional 1 FTE data analyst in order to collect new data in the Data

Editing and Reporting (DEAR) system and to develop the reports necessary to assist institutions

in compliance.”

Senate Bill 130 -- Page 3

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

The New Mexico Lottery Authority notes by allowing for an aggrieved student who wins an ap-

peal to recover costs of books and fees from the lottery tuition fund, this bill may be in conflict

with the New Mexico Lottery Act Section 6-24-23B as it relates to the language “to provide tui-

tion assistance”. To address these concerns, the legislature may want to consider clarifying

which source of funds would be used by public, post-secondary institutions to reimburse stu-

dents.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

The legislature may want to specifically limit the authorization to New Mexico public, post-

secondary institutions.

CHE notes “careful consideration should be made to other sections of law relating to authorized

tuition scholarships.”

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

To evaluate impacts of potential changes to the lottery tuition scholarship program, the legisla-

ture may wish to consider requiring an annual review and reporting to the Legislative Finance

Committee, Legislative Education Study Committee, Department of Finance and Administration

and the Office of the Governor by:

1.

New Mexico Lottery Authority on revenue situation and outlook and

2. Commission on Higher Education on

a.

expenditure situation and outlook

fund balance situation and outlook

policy and fiscal impacts of each change to lottery scholarship program enacted

by the 2004 legislature

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

1.

Is it the intent of the legislature to apply this authorization only to those situations where

courses at another institution are required.

2.

Is this problem evident for students in the bridge semester.

3.

Are there any issues relating to the methodology of calculating grade point averages for

the affected students when courses are taken at more than one institution.

AW/lg