Higher Education Act

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Revision as of 22:08, 15 January 2007

Higher Education Act is a Liberalian Law to set up free tuition in Universities. It included an amendment to the Education Act

Amended 26 November 2006

The Bill

Preamble: This is a bill to make Higher Education equally available to everyone.

Article I Admittance

Clause 1: Higher Education shall be defined as education at colleges, universities, graduate schools, and law schools for students having attained the age of 18 and moved on from Secondary Schools as defined in The Education Act.

Section a: Universities may lower age requirements for exceptional students.

Clause 2: Higher Education Institutions may set their own minimum entry qualifications but are to bear in mind, age and previous level of schooling.

Clause 3: There shall be no discrimination against students seeking direct entry from Secondary Modern Schools and Vocational Training College or entry within five years of leaving secondary schooling, except where minimum entry qualifications exist.

Section a: All students defined in Article I Clause 3 applying to the Higher Education Institutions must be offered the same minimum entry qualification.

Section b: For mature students, defined as those who have left secondary schooling more than five years previously, Higher Education Institutions may change minimum entry qualifications for these students.

Article II Funding

Clause 1: No students shall be denied admittance based upon their ability to pay for Higher Education.

Clause 2: Funding for tuition will come first from the student and their parents or legal guardians if the student is under 24. It may also come from scholarships and grants.

Section a: If a student is under 24, their contribution can be no more than 25% of their assets and 50% of their income after the first L$10,000 earned.

Section b: The total contribution of parents or legal guardians for all students of theirs in Higher Education can be no more than 10% of their assets, and 20% of their income after the first L$40,000 earned. This is also the maximum contribution for students 24 and older, and for students with children.

Section b1: Home equity, along with retirement programs, cannot be included in calculating student or parent/legal guardian contributions.

Section b2: In the case of divorce, income from the custodial parent will be combined with annual child support, if applicable.

Clause 3: If the above does not meet the full tuition cost, funding will come directly from the national government in which the Higher Education Institution exists.

Section a: Foreign students, who under Clause 2 are defined as unable to pay full tuition, will have their tuition paid by the nation where they live, as opposed to the nation where they study.

Section b: Extra costs such as books and field trips will be met from the student's own funds.

Article III Bursaries

Clause 1: Bursaries must be available to students whose parents' or legal guardians' annual combined income is not 50% above the poverty line in the nation in which they live.

Section a: In the case of divorce, income from the custodial parent will be combined with annual child support, if applicable.

Section b: Higher Education Institutions must make bursaries available to foreign students.

Clause 2: Bursaries may come in two forms, course costs and living costs.

Section a: Course costs are those costs relating to the course that the student may not otherwise afford. This may include and is not restricted to musical instruments, research trips, and field trips.

Section b: Living costs are those in which the lack of the award means that the student cannot afford to continue studying at the University. This may include and is not restricted to rent and travel costs.

Section c: Costs in a bursary shall be decided on a case-by-case basis.

Clause 3: Bursaries are to be awarded on academic merit.

Article IV Student Loans

Clause 1: A Student Loan Company (SLC) shall be set up to loan money to students for Higher Education expenses.

Section a: the Regional Bank of Liberalia shall administer this.

Clause 2: Taking a loan shall be voluntary.

Clause 3: The loan company may pay out up to L$5,000 per year.

Section a: The student alone shall decide on the total amount of loan to take out.

Section b: There shall be no pressure on a student to take out a different size loan.

Clause 4: Repayment shall be on the following terms:

Section a: That the student has finished the course for which they were funded by the SLC.

Section b: That the student's annual income is 50% above the poverty line in the nation in which they live.

Section c: That the repayment per month shall not be more than 10% of their take home salary or wage.

Section d: Interest defined as Annual Percentage Rate (APR) shall not exceed 2% per year.

Article V Oversight

Clause 1: A Regional body called Disputes in Education (DiE) shall be set up to solve disputes arising from this bill.

Section a: To resolve a dispute, the student must approach their Higher Education Institution first, if they are not satisfied, then they approach the Government of the Nation in which the Higher Education Institution exists and if they are not satisfied, only then may they appeal to the DiE

Section b: Decisions of the DiE are final.

Clause 2: Disputes as per Article IV Clause 3 Sections a and b shall be referred directly to DiE

Section a: DiE will decide on an appropriate punishment of breaches up to and including stripping the SLC of their rights to administer loans pending a vote in Parliament.