Title 16, Title 16 Title 16

If any provision of this chapter or the application of it to any person or circumstances is invalid, the invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of applications of this chapter which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.

(a) The general assembly shall appropriate annually a sum to provide postsecondary financial assistance. This sum may be supplemented from time to time by other sources of revenue including, but not limited to, federal programs.

The forms of assistance and their purposes shall be as follows: (1) Need based grants, the purpose of which shall be to promote access and to support choice for financially needy students. (2) Need based scholarships, the purpose of which shall be to encourage and to reward the d…

An evaluation of this chapter shall be performed annually by the office of the postsecondary commissioner. The evaluation shall provide, as a minimum, a summary of the following information relating to award recipients: family income, student financial needs, basic educational op…

(a) Amount of funds allocated. The commissioner of postsecondary education shall allocate annually the appropriation for need-based scholarships and grants. Of the total amount appropriated for need-based scholarship and grants, the lesser of twenty percent (20%) or one million e…

This chapter shall be known as the “Rhode Island Higher Education Assistance Act.”

(a) To ensure the continued operation and solvency of the guaranteed student loan program, the office of the postsecondary commissioner shall create and establish reserve funds, and may pay into the funds any money appropriated and made available by the state or any other source …

Guaranties made under the provisions of this chapter shall not constitute debts, liabilities, or obligations of the state or of any political subdivision of the state other than the office of the postsecondary commissioner or a pledge of the faith and credit of the state or any p…

If the provisions of this chapter are inconsistent with the provisions of any other law or ordinance, general, special, or local, the provisions of this chapter shall be controlling.

This chapter being necessary for the welfare of the state and its inhabitants shall be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes.

If any clause, sentence, paragraph, section, or part of this chapter shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder of this chapter but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, se…

The purpose of this chapter is to authorize a system of financial assistance, consisting of loan guaranties, savings programs, and other aids, for qualified students, parents, and others responsible for paying the costs of education to enable them to obtain an education beyond th…

As used in this chapter, the following words and terms have the following meanings unless the context indicates another or different meaning or intent: (1) “Authority” means the commissioner of postsecondary education. (2) “Commissioner of postsecondary education” means the commi…

(a) The office of the commissioner of postsecondary education is hereby granted and authorized to use all of the powers set forth in this chapter for the purposes of guaranteeing eligible loans to students in eligible institutions and to parents of those students and administerin…

(a) Effective July 1, 2025, the division of higher education assistance shall be dissolved. Upon said dissolution and date, all functions, powers, duties, and authority of the division of higher education assistance shall transfer to the office of postsecondary commissioner. (b) …

There is hereby established a restricted receipt account in the general fund and housed in the office of postsecondary commissioner to be known as the “tuition savings program fund”. The purpose of the fund is to receive and disburse scholarship funds pursuant to the provisions o…

(a) The general treasurer, in conjunction with the state investment commission, executive director of the Rhode Island student loan authority, and the commissioner of postsecondary education, shall establish, in any form as the general treasurer deems appropriate, a tuition savin…

(a) The participant retains ownership of all assets properly allocated to an account maintained for the participant in the tuition savings program up to the date of withdrawal or distribution of these from the program. (b) All assets of the tuition savings program shall be consid…

(a) For state income tax purposes, annual earnings of the tuition savings program and the prepaid tuition program shall be exempt from tax to the program, and shall not be includible in the Rhode Island income of either beneficiaries or participants in the program until withdrawn…

(a) The treasurer shall submit to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the secretary of state an annual, audited financial report, prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, on the operations of the…

This chapter shall be liberally construed in order to effectuate the purposes and intent of this chapter. It is intended that the tuition savings program established pursuant to this chapter qualify as a “qualified state tuition program” pursuant to § 529 of the Internal Revenue …

The council on postsecondary education established pursuant to § 16-59-1 shall retain all authority formerly vested in the higher education assistance authority board of directors, except as provided by § 16-57-6.1. Whenever in any general or public law reference is made to the “…

The office of the postsecondary commissioner is designated the state agency to apply for, receive, accept, and disburse federal funds, and funds from other public and private sources, made available to the state for use as reserves to guarantee student loans or as administrative …

(a) Any person qualifying for an eligible loan shall not be disqualified to receive a loan guaranteed by the office of the postsecondary commissioner by reason of the person being a minor. For the purpose of applying for, securing, receiving, and repaying a loan, any person shall…

(a) There is created a council on postsecondary education, sometimes referred to as the “council,” which shall be and is constituted a public corporation, empowered to sue and be sued in its own name, and to exercise all the powers, in addition to those specifically enumerated in…

No provision of this chapter shall be construed to impair academic freedom or academic governance at any institution under the jurisdiction of the board of governors, nor to divest any faculty member of the institution of tenure, retirement or other right or benefit to which the …

The council on postsecondary education shall have power to investigate all transactions and matters relating to higher public education in the state, including those required pursuant to an interstate, distance-learning reciprocity agreement, and to summon witnesses, administer o…

The provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act, chapter 35 of title 42, shall not apply to this chapter.

Where in this chapter the phrase “public colleges” or “public institutions of higher learning” or “public tax supported institutions of higher learning” or words of similar import are used they shall be taken to mean Rhode Island college, and the community college of Rhode Island…

The provisions of repealed §§ 16-31-8, 16-31-9, 16-31-10, 16-31-11, and 16-31-13 previously pertinent to the board of trustees of state colleges and made applicable to the board of governors for education are made applicable to the board of governors for higher education; provide…

This chapter shall be construed liberally in aid of its declared purposes.

Whenin any law, resolution, document, record, instrument, proceeding, or other place the words “board of trustees of state colleges” or “boards of regents for education” as they shall apply to higher education shall appear, they shall be construed to mean “board of governors for …

If any provision of this chapter or of any rule or regulation made under this chapter, or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of the chapter, rule, or regulation and the application of the provision to …

(a) All receipts from all sources other than state appropriations shall not be covered into the general fund of the state, but shall be kept by the general treasurer of the state in a separate fund for the council on postsecondary education, and shall be paid out by the treasurer…

The treasurer of Rhode Island college to be appointed by the council on postsecondary education, shall keep an accurate account of his or her receipts and expenditures which shall be audited by the state controller in accordance with law. The treasurer of each college shall turn …

The governor shall establish the council for postsecondary education by appointing eight (8) members of the board of education established pursuant to chapter 97 of this title to serve as members of the council, until the expiration of their term as a member of the board of educa…

The pre-audit of all expenditures under authority of the board by the state controller provided for in § 35-6-1 shall be purely ministerial, concerned only with the legality of the expenditure and the availability of the funds, and in no event shall the state controller interpose…

In order that the board of governors for higher education may control the personnel and equipment of the state colleges in the interest of educational efficiency, the board and the colleges are excepted from the provisions of subsection (a)(5) of § 35-3-1 relating to the employme…

(a) The appointment, promotion, salaries, tenure, and dismissal of administrative, instructional, and research employees, and secretarial employees not exceeding ten (10) in number, and armed college police officers of the state colleges shall not be subject in any manner or degr…

No member of the board of governors for higher education shall be employed in any position under the jurisdiction of the board, nor contract in any manner for any purpose with the board; nor shall the board purchase, sell, or lease any land, property, or supplies from or to any f…

(a) The board of governors shall develop a policy, commitments, and procedures for students with disabilities setting forth the steps necessary to ensure that all public colleges, as defined in § 16-59-13, are accessible to persons with disabilities. (b) The plan shall be substan…

The admissions offices of all state institutions of higher learning shall include in the admissions information provided to state residents forms for voter registration as described in § 17-9.1-9 to be provided by the state board of elections.

(a) In order to better maintain voter registration files, all institutions of higher education shall, on or before August 15th of each year, electronically transmit a text file or database to the secretary of state containing the names and current addresses of those students who …

(a) Purpose. The state of Rhode Island recognizes that research is a primary mission of an institution of higher education. While carrying out its research mission, the state further recognizes that inventions of value to the public will be made by persons working in its public i…

(a) The purchase and sale of academic degrees wherein the degree is obtained on the basis of a combination of a payment of a fee and the attainment of academic credit for so-called life experiences, without the applicant undertaking any academic coursework at the entity or instit…

Public members of the board of governors shall be removable by the governor for cause only, and removal solely for partisan or personal reasons unrelated to capacity or fitness for the office shall be unlawful. No removal shall be made for any cause except after ten (10) days’ no…