Gov. Jerry Brown has signed Senate Bill 290 to cover some Cal State University and University of California fees for out-of-state veterans.
SB 290, authored by Sen. Steve Knight (R-Antelope Valley), will allow out-of-state veterans to pay the same tuition price as in-state students for two years of their college education.
CSU Spokesman Michael Uhlenkamp said via email that at semester campuses, out-of-state students pay tuition plus an additional $372 per unit to cover the full cost of instruction. SB 290 was written to cover these extra fees, according to Knight’s Chief of Staff David Orosco.
To have the additional fees waived, veterans must file an affidavit with the university, stating that they intend to establish residency in California, according to the bill’s text.
Knight’s Legislative Director Heidi Jensen said that SB 290 was limited to two years because funding the bill for more than two years per veteran would have surpassed state funding limits.
While SB 290 could lead to a loss of tuition revenue because some individuals would pay in-state tuition instead of out-of-state, Uhlenkamp said, the bill would not lead to a large loss of revenue because the veteran population is “fairly small” on CSU campuses.
According to Uhlenkamp, the most recent data from fall 2011 reports that there are 361 veterans at Cal State Long Beach and 6,540 throughout the CSU system.
Knight, a CSULB alumnus who enlisted in the army after high school, said that SB 290 shows appreciation for what veterans have done.
“We want them to have a strong education when they come out of the military,” Knight said. “And if we’re going to give them money through the federal government, we want them to be able to use it in our state so they are getting benefits of their education out here when they possibly look for a job.”
According to a press release on Knight’s website, 19 other states already have similar benefits like those provided in SB 290.
Knight said that he is looking to have SB 290 extended to cover more than two years of a veteran’s college education.
Jensen said that an expansion for the bill, Assembly Bill 13, is currently under committee review. The bill is called “Good For Veterans and California” and its sponsors are hoping to pick it up next year, she said.