(1) A Fee for Selected Professional School Students be assessed to students enrolled in graduate professional degree programs, as determined by The Regents, to sustain and enhance the quality of the professional schools' academic programs and services.

(2) Revenue from professional school fees will remain with the campuses and will not be used to offset reductions in State support.

(3) Fees for professional school students will be approved by The Regents, within the context of a multi-year plan that is subject to annual reconsideration.

(4) The Provost is responsible for ensuring that the leadership of each campus designs a multi-year plan of fee increases for each professional degree program in a manner that effectively advances the program's mission and strategic academic plan.

(5) In developing a program's multi-year plan, the following factors are among those to be taken into consideration: the amount of resources required to sustain academic quality at, and enrollments in, the particular professional degree program; the ability of the program to remain competitive with other institutions of similar quality; the cost of education for each specific degree program; the resident and nonresident tuition and fees charged by comparable public and private institutions for each specific program; and other market-based factors (such as scholarship and grant support) that permit the degree program to compete successfully for students. Within this context, different fee levels may be set for professional programs in the same discipline at different campuses.

(6) Financial aid targeted for students enrolled in professional degree programs is necessary to ensure access to the degree program, and to minimize financial barriers to the pursuit of careers in public service. The Provost is responsible for ensuring that each campus complements its proposed multi-year plans for professional degree programs with financial aid measures, including scholarships, grants and loan repayment assistance programs, to adequately meet these goals. Financial aid sources should be supplemented by an amount equivalent to at least 33 percent of new professional school fee revenue or by an amount necessary to ensure that financial aid sources are equivalent to at least 33 percent of all professional school fee revenue. Campuses will regularly evaluate and report on the effectiveness of these financial aid measures.

(7) The following conditions are adopted for future professional degree fee increases:

(A) Access and inclusion are among the University's core commitments, and student affordability is a vitally important component to a public education system. Any increases in professional degree fees (PDFs) must be justified by programmatic and financial needs, but also must not adversely affect the University's commitment to access, inclusion, and keeping the door open for students interested in pursuing low-paying public interest careers.

(B) With this sentiment in mind, if a professional school unit wishes to propose a PDF increase greater than 6 percent or in excess of the percentage increase in the Education Fee for a given year, it must submit a plan, endorsed by its chancellor, describing academic and/or programmatic reasons for the requested increase and describing policies to ensure or enhance access and inclusion in the face of the rising fees.

(C) Each plan should consider the following (including expenditure projections, design parameters, and performance metrics) components:

i. Front-end financial aid such that needy students are able to pursue their academic and summer interests without regard to financial considerations.
ii. Loan forgiveness programs (or some equivalent alternative program) for, among others, students interested in pursuing low-paying public service jobs such that their debt from professional school does not unduly restrict their career decision.
iii. A strategy for inclusion of underrepresented groups.
iv. A detailed marketing and outreach plan to explain financial aid and loan forgiveness.

(D) Each unit's PDF plan shall also include:

i. Assurances that in any program directly supported by State 19900 funds, the total in-state fees charged will be at or below the total tuition and/or fees charged by comparable degree programs at other comparable public institutions.
ii. Information as to the views of the unit's student body and faculty on the proposed increase. This information may be obtained in a variety of ways ranging from consultations with elected student leaders and faculty executive committees to referenda. The information would be treated as advisory, but The Regents would view more favorably PDF proposals that enjoy the support of a unit's faculty and student body.

(E) The Provost and Executive Vice President will provide further guidance and coordination as needed to the campuses and to elements of the Office of the President, and coordinate submission of the PDF proposals to The Regents for annual action. Chancellors will carefully review PDF proposals and the supporting plans concerning financial aid, loan forgiveness, outreach, evaluation, and implementation of corrective measures if needed (such as a PDF rollback, freeze, limit on future increases, or other financial and/or non-financial measures), and forward the PDF proposals as revised to the Office of the President. PDF proposals from the campuses and as submitted to The Regents should cover a rolling period of not less than three years.

(F) These conditions are effective in academic year 2009-10 and onwards. For academic year 2008-09, any PDF increases greater than 6 percent approved by The Regents are conditional on the President's determination by March 1, 2008, that the unit has satisfied conditions equivalent to those above; such a determination will be reported to The Regents for information.