(a) Higher Education Tuition Adjustment Fund.
(1) The Higher Education Tuition Adjustment Fund is hereby created upon the books of the Treasurer of State, the Auditor of State, and the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State.
(2) The Higher Education Tuition Adjustment Fund shall consist of those revenues that are allocated to it by law.
(b) Purpose of the Higher Education Tuition Adjustment Fund.
(1) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Higher Education Tuition Adjustment Fund ensure that bona fide Arkansas income taxpayers and their dependents who are residents of a bordering state in a contiguous county to the Arkansas state line which is contiguous to a county where an institution of higher education is located receive the same higher education opportunities as all other taxpayers.
(2) In establishing this policy, it is the intent of the General Assembly that taxpayers should have affordable access to the state's higher education institutions.
(c) Tracking and Reporting.
(1) Furthermore, the Division of Higher Education will require each institution to track and report the number of qualifying students each year.
(2)
(A) A list of students who benefit from the out-of-state tuition waiver, including their Social Security numbers or their Arkansas taxpaying parents' or guardians' names and Social Security numbers, will be furnished by the division to the Department of Finance and Administration for confirmation that they or their parents are employed in Arkansas at a wage in excess of five thousand five hundred dollars ($5,500) per annum.
(B) Documentation should be either an official W-2 form from an Arkansas employer reflecting wages of at least five thousand five hundred dollars ($5,500) in the tax year prior to enrollment in college or official employer verification of a current year salary minimum of at least five thousand five hundred dollars ($5,500), which the college will keep on file for enrollment audit purposes.
(d) Appropriation Transfer Procedures.
(1) The Director of the Division of Higher Education shall determine the difference between the amount of tuition revenue which would have been generated by charging the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board-approved out-of-state tuition rate to the students as compared to the approved in-state or out-of-district rate.
(2) Upon the determination, the director shall certify to the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State and the Treasurer of State those amounts that are required to be transferred from the Higher Education Tuition Adjustment Fund.
(3) Upon receiving the certification, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State and the Treasurer of State shall cause to be transferred the necessary funds and appropriation to the fund account of the institution receiving certification from the director.
(4) In order to provide funding for the appropriation set out in the line item entitled “Tuition Adjustment” in the biennial operations appropriation act for the division, the Chief Fiscal Officer of the State shall transfer to the Higher Education Tuition Adjustment Fund from the Higher Education Grants Fund Account three hundred fifty thousand dollars ($350,000) for each year of the biennium.