The University System of Maryland Board of Regents likely is going to approve the waiver of in-state tuition residency requirements this morning for defense contractor employees relocating to Maryland under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission act.
If the Board of Regents? Committee on Finance, as expected, grants preliminary approval, the proposal then will go before the entire board at its Dec. 1 meeting.
Active military personnel, their spouses and dependent children ? by state rule ? are already exempt from proving 12-month residency in Maryland to qualify for in-state tuition at USM.
At its Oct. 27 meeting, the board waived the 12-month residency requirement for in-state tuition for civilian employees of the U.S. Armed Forces, including spouses and dependent children, who move to Maryland as a result of BRAC.
“We want to put out the welcome sign,” said Joe Vivona, USM?s chief operating officer and vice chancellor for administration and finance. “We want to demonstrate to the business community that Maryland is a place of quality higher education. With our proximity to Washington, our role in homeland security, national defense, and other high technology industries, education is the foundation in the state?s economy.”
Vivona said each new waiver could impact the first-year tuition costs of possibly 200 incoming students. Tuition at the University of Maryland, College Park for in-state residents is now $8,200, for example, versus $21,000 for out-of-state students. At Towson University, in-state tuition is $7,400 versus $16,500.
University System of Maryland spokesman John Buettner said a precedent for the waivers was set a decade ago when a similar BRAC realignment brought new military employee, to the Patuxent Naval Air Station in St. Mary?s County.
Other action items before the Finance committee are consideration of the University of Baltimore?s Facilities Master Plan 2004-2014 and the renewal of system-wide contracts for scientific supplies.
