[Oasfaa] FW: In-State Tuition for Residents of the Freely Associated States

[Beam, Colbi]

Good afternoon, OASFAA,

Please see the following email (below my signature line) and attachment from Dr. Pruitt with the SREB about a new law related to tuition rates for students from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic of Palau.

Best wishes,

Dr. Colbi Beam
Associate Vice Chancellor for State Grants and Scholarships
Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education

655 Research Parkway, Suite 200
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104
cbeam at osrhe.edu<mailto:cbeam at osrhe.edu>

-- THIS E-MAIL WAS RECEIVED FROM AN EXTERNAL SOURCE--
Good afternoon all!

I’m writing because I wanted to bring this legislation to your attention. You may already know about this, but just in case I wanted to share as I became aware of it on Monday. This may or may not impact your institutions, but

As you may know, the Compacts of Free Association are the diplomatic agreements (basically treaties) that establish their unique relationships with the U.S. and make their students eligible for Title IV aid and a host of other programs. President Biden recently signed the legislation ratifying the agreement and implementing the U.S. provisions (attached) and there is a section in which the U.S. has agreed to require U.S. public institutions to offer in-state tuition to the residents of the Freely Associated states (Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic of Palau – all of which are members of WICHE).

Attached is the statute that passed. Most is irrelevant. The language implementing the compacts starts on page 395. The specific language is on 417 and excerpted here:

(b) AUTHORIZATION OF EDUCATION PROGRAMS.—
(1) ELIGIBILITY.—For fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year thereafter, the Government of the United States shall—
…
“(E) require, as a condition of eligibility for a public institution of higher education in any State (as defined in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003)) that is not a Freely Associated State to participate in or receive funds under any program under title IV of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), that the institution charge students who are citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, or the Republic of Palau tuition for attendance at a rate that is not greater than the rate charged for residents of the State in which such public institution of higher education is located.”

I’m sharing this with you because more than 15,000 Marshallese live in northwest Arkansas and in nearby communities<https://www.mei.ngo/marshallese-in-arkansas> (some in the Midwest) and could have impacts on the institutions there. You will see below that FSA issued an electronic announcement on Monday regarding the new Compact provisions on Title IV: https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronic-announcements/2024-04-29/state-tuition-and-title-iv-eligibility-citizens-freely-associated-states.

We are expecting more to come but this goes into effect on July 1, 2024. I recognize there are many issues with this, including but not limited to the fact that this seems to be the first time that the federal government is setting tuition policy, but the law has been passed. We suspect that many institutions are unaware of this requirement, so one of the things I would suggest is informing your institutions about this new provision.

Also, I will work on setting a time for us to meet to discuss the FAFSA strategies.

Stephen

Stephen L. Pruitt, Ph.D.
President
Southern Regional Education Board
592 10th Street, N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30318-9211
(404) 879-5601
Stephen.Pruitt at sreb.org<mailto:Stephen.Pruitt at sreb.org>
SREB.org
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