Summary: Virginia College Savings Plan; prepaid tuition contracts; pricing reserves. Provides that in the event that the ratio of the assets of the Virginia College Savings Plan (the Plan) to the obligations of the Plan exceeds 105 percent, the pricing reserve, which the bill defines as the percentage by which the actuarially determined prepaid tuition contract price exceeds the amount estimated to meet the actuarially determined tuition obligation for such prepaid tuition contract, shall not exceed five percent. The bill provides that in the event that the ratio of the assets of the Plan to the obligations of the Plan does not meet or exceed 105 percent, the pricing reserve may exceed five percent but shall not exceed 10 percent. The bill also requires the governing board of the Plan to provide to the House Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Finance, and the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission written notification and a detailed explanation of any change to the pricing reserve within 30 days of such change.

Summary: State Council of Higher Education for Virginia; financial aid award notification. Requires any comprehensive financial aid award notification provided to a student by a public institution of higher education or private institution of higher education to meet the requirements and best practices established by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia in its Financial Aid Award Letters Policies and Guidance. This bill is identical to SB 1593.

Summary: Eligibility for in-state tuition; certain individualswho have applied for permanent residency. Declares eligible forin-state tuition any individual who (i) graduated from a public orprivate high school or program of home instruction in the Commonwealthor passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Boardof Education; (ii) registers as an entering student or is enrolledin a public institution of higher education; (iii) has submitted evidence that he or, in the case of a dependent student, at least one parent,guardian, or person standing in loco parentis has filed, unless exemptedby state law, Virginia income tax returns for at least one year priorto the date of registration or enrollment; and (iv) provides an affidavitto the public institution of higher education in which he has registeredas an entering student or is enrolled stating that he has filed anapplication to become a permanent resident of the United States andis actively pursuing such permanent residency or will do so as soonas he becomes eligible for such permanent residency.

Summary: Virginia College Savings Plan. Makes several changes to the provisions that establish the Virginia College Savings Plan (the Plan), including (i) permitting the Plan to maintain an independent disbursement system for the disbursement of prepaid tuition contract benefits and (ii) requiring each prepaid tuition contract entered into on or after July 1, 2019, to include provisions for the application of tuition prepayments, at a rate equal to the percentage of enrollment-weighted average tuition at public institutions of higher education to be determined by the board, at (a) public institutions of higher education, (b) accredited nonprofit independent or private institutions of higher education, and (c) non-Virginia public and accredited nonprofit independent or private institutions of higher education, provided that no such payment is less than the sum of tuition prepayments made, less any fees as determined by the board. This bill is identical to SB 1315.

Summary: Virginia Community College System; certain registered apprenticeships; uniform instruction. Requires the Virginia Community College System, in consultation with the Department of Labor and Industry, to develop and deliver uniform, related instruction for registered apprenticeships in high-demand programs, as determined by the Virginia Board of Workforce Development and the Virginia Employment Commission, and for which coursework is not otherwise available. The bill requires such instruction to be available statewide and to be delivered in a face-to-face, online, or blended format.

Summary: Public institutions of higher education; veterans; withdrawal; tuition refund. Requires each public institution of higher education to provide a refund of the tuition and mandatory fees paid by any veteran student for any course from which he is forced to withdraw, for the first time, due to a service-connected medical condition during a semester, as certified in writing to the institution by a physician licensed to practice medicine who treated the veteran student for such medical condition.

Summary: Virginia Rural Information Technology Apprenticeship Grant Fund and Program. Establishes the Virginia Rural Information Technology Apprenticeship Grant Fund and Program, to be administered by the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, for the purpose of awarding grants to small, rural information technology businesses in certain localities in the Southwest and Southside regions of Virginia to establish 18-month apprenticeship programs for full-time employees that combine mentorship and on-the-job training to enhance the experience and skills of such employees.

Summary: Higher Education Advisory Committee; highereducation funding. Requires the Higher Education Advisory Committee(Advisory Committee) to (i) develop a methodology by which to ratethe performance of each public institution of higher education and(ii) review and make recommendations for changes to existing fundingmethodology and targeted financial incentives. The bill requiresthe Advisory Committee to consult with national and state policy experts and institutional innovators in other states and considertrends in the implementation of various performance-based fundingmodels, accounting for institutional differences. The Advisory Committee's recommendations shall be designed to achieve increased degree andcredential attainment within high-demand fields, reduction of averagetime-to-degree, improved affordability for Virginia students and families, reduction of debt of former students and graduates, andimproved graduate employment outcomes. The bill requires that suchrecommendations be designed to result in a funding methodology and targeted financial incentives that allocate at least 80 percent ofstate appropriations for public higher education according to a setof certain performance metrics. Such recommendations are requiredto be submitted to the General Assembly and the Governor no laterthan the first day of the regular session of the General Assemblyin 2020.

Summary: Public institutions of higher education; executive officers; salaries. Requires the governing board of each public institution of higher education to report by September 1 of each year to the Chairmen of the House Committees on Appropriations and Education and the Senate Committees on Finance and Education and Health the salary by position of any executive officer of such institution that exceeds for the previous fiscal year the salary limit for the chief executive officer for such institution set forth in the general appropriation act.

Summary: Public institutions of higher education; tuition and fees; foster care youth. Provides that any associate degree-granting public institution of higher education other than a comprehensive community college and each baccalaureate public institution of higher education may provide a grant for the payment of tuition and certain fees for any Virginia student who (i) (a) has received a high school diploma or has passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education and was in foster care or in the custody of the Department of Social Services or is considered a special needs adoption at the time such diploma or certificate was awarded or (b) was in foster care when he turned 18 and subsequently received a high school diploma or passed a high school equivalency examination approved by the Board of Education and (ii) meets certain other criteria. Current law requires comprehensive community colleges to provide such grants for such students who are enrolled at comprehensive community colleges.

Summary: Eligibility for in-state tuition; certain individuals.Declares eligible for in-state tuition any individual who meetscertain eligibility criteria and who has filed an application forpermanent residency or asylum or is under the age of 27 and is thechild of an individual who has filed an application for asylum. Thebill provides that any such individual shall remain eligible forin-state tuition for as long as he maintains continuous enrollment in the public institution of higher education and such applicationhas not been denied. The bill also prohibits any student who becameeligible for in-state tuition as a result of his lawful presence inthe United States pursuant to approval under the Deferred Actionfor Childhood Arrivals program or any other federal deferred actionprogram from being deemed ineligible for in-state tuition by virtueof the elimination or modification of any such program.

Summary: Virginia National Guard; education grants.Increases from two to three the minimum number of years of remainingobligation that members of the Virginia National Guard are requiredto have to be eligible for the Virginia National Guard educationgrant. The bill provides that the grant may be used for vocationaland nondegree credit courses and programs and that the cost of feesand textbooks will be included in the calculation of the amount ofsuch grants.

Summary: Public institutions of higher education; students; determination of domicile. Prohibits any student at a public institution of higher education from being deemed ineligible to establish domicile and receive in-state tuition charges solely on the basis of the immigration status of his parent.

Summary: Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program; eligibility. Extends the benefits of the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program to the spouse or child of a veteran with at least a 90 percent permanent, service-related disability. Under current law, the spouse or child would be eligible for benefits only if the veteran's disability was incurred during military operations against terrorism, on a peacekeeping mission, as a result of a terrorist act, or in any armed conflict. Under the provisions of the bill, eligibility for stipends from the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Fund is unchanged. This bill is identical to SB 1173.