§ 16-59-9.3. Student Success Act.
Notwithstanding any other provision of the general or public laws:
(1) A student, other than a nonimmigrant alien within the meaning of 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(15), who meets all of the following requirements shall be exempt from paying nonresident tuition at Rhode Island public universities, colleges, or community colleges, if he or she:
(i) Attended an approved Rhode Island high school for three (3) or more consecutive years;
(ii) Continues to reside in the state of Rhode Island;
(iii) Has graduated from an approved Rhode Island high school or received a high school equivalency diploma from the state of Rhode Island;
(iv) Has filed, or will file, upon matriculation, with the Rhode Island public university, college, or community college of expected attendance, an affidavit stating that:
(A) The student meets the requirements of subsections (1)(i) and (1)(ii) of this section; and
(B) If the student is not a United States citizen and does not have a lawful immigration status, that the student has filed an application for lawful immigration status, or will file the application as soon as the student is eligible to do so. The affidavit shall not require students to reveal their immigration or citizenship status.
(2) Any nonimmigrant foreign national student, who has resided in Rhode Island for three (3) years and has attended a Rhode Island high school for three (3) years, will be eligible to pay the same in-state tuition as any other Rhode Island student.
(3) Identifiable student information obtained pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall be confidential to the extent provided by state and federal law (including the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)). If information obtained pursuant to this section regarding a student’s immigration status is provided to any agency for purposes other than the implementation of this section, the entity providing the information shall promptly notify the student.
(4) The Rhode Island council for postsecondary education shall prescribe rules and regulations as may be necessary for the implementation of this section.
History of Section.
P.L. 2021, ch. 346, § 1, effective July 12, 2021; P.L. 2021, ch. 365, § 1, effective
July 12, 2021.