(a) The governing board of each community college district shall charge each student a fee pursuant to this section.

(b) (1) The fee prescribed by this section shall be forty-six dollars ($46) per unit per semester, effective with the summer term of the 2012 calendar year.

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(2) The board of governors shall proportionately adjust the amount of the fee for term lengths based upon a quarter system, and also shall proportionately adjust the amount of the fee for summer sessions, intersessions, and other short-term courses. In making these adjustments, the board of governors may round the per unit fee and the per term or per session fee to the nearest dollar.

(c) For the purposes of computing apportionments to community college districts pursuant to Section 84750.4 or 84750.5, as applicable, the board of governors shall subtract, from the total revenue owed to each district, 98 percent of the revenues received by districts from charging a fee pursuant to this section.

(d) The board of governors shall reduce apportionments by up to 10 percent to any district that does not collect the fees prescribed by this section.

(e) The fee requirement does not apply to any of the following:

(1) Students enrolled in the noncredit courses designated by Section 84757.

(2) California State University or University of California students enrolled in pretransfer classes provided by a community college district on a campus of the University of California or a campus of the California State University, for whom the district claims an attendance apportionment pursuant to an agreement between the district and the California State University or the University of California.

(3) Students enrolled in credit contract education courses pursuant to Section 78021, if the entire cost of the course, including administrative costs, is paid by the public or private agency, corporation, or association with which the district is contracting and if these students are not included in the calculation of the full-time equivalent students (FTES) of that district.

(f) The governing board of a community college district may exempt special part-time students admitted pursuant to Section 76001 from the fee requirement.

(g) (1) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for any student who meets all of the following requirements:

(A) Meets minimum academic and progress standards adopted by the board of governors that fulfill the requirements outlined in this paragraph and paragraphs (2) to (5), inclusive. Any minimum academic and progress standards adopted pursuant to this section shall be uniform across all community college districts and campuses. These standards shall not include a maximum unit cap, and community college districts and colleges shall not impose requirements for fee waiver eligibility other than the minimum academic and progress standards adopted by the board of governors and the requirements of subparagraph (B).

(B) Meets one of the following criteria:

(i) At the time of enrollment, is a recipient of benefits under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplementary Payment Program, or a general assistance program.

(ii) Demonstrates eligibility according to income standards established by regulations of the board of governors.

(iii) Demonstrates financial need in accordance with the methodology set forth in federal law or regulation for determining the expected family contribution of students seeking financial aid.

(iv) At the time of enrollment, is a homeless youth or a former homeless youth as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 66025.9.

(2) (A) The board of governors, in consultation with students, faculty, and other key stakeholders, shall consider all of the following in the development and adoption of minimum academic and progress standards pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1):

(i) Minimum uniform academic and progress standards that do not unfairly disadvantage financially needy students in pursuing their education.

(ii) Criteria for reviewing extenuating circumstances and granting appeals that, at a minimum, take into account and do not penalize a student for circumstances outside the student’s control, such as reductions in student support services or changes to the economic situation of the student.

(iii) A process for reestablishing fee waiver eligibility that provides a student with a reasonable opportunity to continue or resume the student’s enrollment at a community college.

(B) To ensure that students are not unfairly impacted by the requirements of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), the board of governors shall establish a reasonable implementation period that commences no sooner than one year from adoption of the minimum academic and progress standards, or any subsequent changes to these standards, pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) and that is phased in to provide students adequate notification of this requirement and information about available support resources.

(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that minimum academic and progress standards adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) be implemented only as campuses develop and implement the student support services and interventions necessary to ensure no disproportionate impact to students based on ethnicity, gender, disability, or socioeconomic status. The board of governors shall consider the ability of community college districts to meet the requirements of this paragraph before adopting minimum academic and progress standards, or any subsequent changes to these standards, pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1).

(4) It is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that a student shall not lose fee waiver eligibility without a community college campus first demonstrating a reasonable effort to provide a student with adequate notification and assistance in maintaining the student’s fee waiver eligibility. The board of governors shall adopt regulations to implement this paragraph that ensure all of the following:

(A) Students are provided information about the available student support services to assist them in maintaining fee waiver eligibility.

(B) Community college district policies and course catalogs reflect the minimum academic and progress standards adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) and that appropriate notice is provided to students before the policies are put into effect.

(C) A student does not lose fee waiver eligibility unless the student has not met minimum academic and progress standards adopted pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) for a period of no less than two consecutive academic terms.

(5) The board of governors shall provide notification of a proposed action to adopt regulations pursuant to this subdivision to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 70901.5. This notification shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(A) The proposed minimum academic and progress standards and information detailing how the requirements of paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, have been or will be satisfied.

(B) How many students may lose fee waiver eligibility by ethnicity, gender, disability, and, to the extent relevant data is available, by socioeconomic status.

(C) The criteria for reviewing extenuating circumstances, granting appeals, and reestablishing fee waiver eligibility pursuant to paragraph (2).

(h) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for any student who, at the time of enrollment, is a dependent or surviving spouse who has not remarried, of any member of the California National Guard who, in the line of duty and while in the active service of the state, was killed, died of a disability resulting from an event that occurred while in the active service of the state, or is permanently disabled as a result of an event that occurred while in the active service of the state. “Active service of the state,” for the purposes of this subdivision, refers to a member of the California National Guard activated pursuant to § 146 of the Military and Veterans Code.

(i) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for any student who is the surviving spouse or the child, natural or adopted, of a deceased person who met all of the requirements of Section 68120 or 68120.3.

(j) The fee requirements of this section shall be waived for any student in an undergraduate program, including a student who has previously graduated from another undergraduate or graduate program, who is the dependent of any individual killed in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or the crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in southwestern Pennsylvania, if that dependent meets the financial need requirements set forth in Section 69432.7 for the Cal Grant A Program and either of the following applies:

(1) The dependent was a resident of California on September 11, 2001.

(2) The individual killed in the attacks was a resident of California on September 11, 2001.

(k) A determination of whether a person is a resident of California on September 11, 2001, for purposes of subdivision (j) shall be based on the criteria set forth in Chapter 1 (commencing with Section 68000) of Part 41 of Division 5 for determining nonresident and resident tuition.

(l) (1) “Dependent,” for purposes of subdivision (j), is a person who, because of the person’s relationship to an individual killed as a result of injuries sustained during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, qualifies for compensation under the federal September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 (Title IV (commencing with Section 401) of Public Law 107-42).

(2) A dependent who is the surviving spouse of an individual killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is entitled to the waivers provided in this section until January 1, 2013.

(3) A dependent who is the surviving child, natural or adopted, of an individual killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is entitled to the waivers under subdivision (j) until that person attains 30 years of age.

(4) A dependent of an individual killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, who is determined to be eligible by the California Victim Compensation Board, is also entitled to the waivers provided in this section until January 1, 2013.

(m) (1) It is the intent of the Legislature that sufficient funds be provided to support the provision of a fee waiver for every student who demonstrates eligibility pursuant to subdivisions (g) to (j), inclusive.

(2) From funds provided in the annual Budget Act, the board of governors shall allocate to community college districts, pursuant to this subdivision, an amount equal to 2 percent of the fees waived pursuant to subdivisions (g) to (j), inclusive. From funds provided in the annual Budget Act, the board of governors shall allocate to community college districts, pursuant to this subdivision, an amount equal to ninety-one cents ($0.91) per credit unit waived pursuant to subdivisions (g) to (j), inclusive. It is the intent of the Legislature that funds provided pursuant to this subdivision be used to support the determination of financial need and delivery of student financial aid services, on the basis of the number of students for whom fees are waived. It also is the intent of the Legislature that the funds provided pursuant to this subdivision directly offset mandated costs claimed by community college districts pursuant to Commission on State Mandates consolidated Test Claims 99-TC-13 (Enrollment Fee Collection) and 00-TC-15 (Enrollment Fee Waivers). Funds allocated to a community college district for determination of financial need and delivery of student financial aid services shall supplement, and shall not supplant, the level of funds allocated for the administration of student financial aid programs during the 1992-93 fiscal year.

(n) (1) A community college district may use available emergency relief funds provided by the federal government to waive the fee requirements established pursuant to this section for a student who has not paid the fee due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(2) A community college district may use the authorization established pursuant to this subdivision only to waive the fees of students that are unpaid due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. A participating community college district shall first waive the unpaid fees of low-income students and students from underrepresented communities.

(o) The board of governors shall adopt regulations implementing this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 465, Sec. 5. (AB 2973) Effective January 1, 2023.)