SB 644

This bill makes changes relating to the responsibilities of colleges to national

guard members and other service members who withdraw from school because they

are called into active military service.

Current law provides certain protections to a student of a University of

Wisconsin System school, technical college, or private nonprofit college who is a

national guard member or a member of a reserve unit of the U.S. armed forces and

who withdraws from school because he or she is called into active military service for

at least 30 days. Under these protections, the school or college must reenroll the

student in the semester in which the student is discharged, demobilized, or

deactivated or, if the student prefers, in the following semester and give the student

the same course registration priority that the student would have had if the student

had registered at the beginning of the registration period. In addition, if the student

is enrolled in a UW System school or technical college, at the student's request, the

school or college must either 1) reimburse all tuition and fees paid for courses from

which the student had to withdraw, and for prorated room and board at a UW System

school; or 2) grant the student an incomplete in the courses from which the student

had to withdraw and allow the student to complete the courses within six months

after leaving service without paying additional tuition or fees. If the student is

enrolled in a private nonprofit college, the college must grant the student an

incomplete and allow course completion as described in 2), above.

This bill affords these protections to students called into active military service

for any period, not just for 30 days or more, and regardless of whether the call is with

or without the consent of the student. The bill also expands these protections to

students at all private institutions, not only nonprofit institutions, and provides

these students with the option, instead of receiving an incomplete and completing

courses later, to obtain reimbursement of tuition and fees paid for courses from which

the student had to withdraw and of prorated room and board. The bill also requires

schools and colleges to ensure that the student is provided a reasonable opportunity

to complete final projects and final examinations for all courses in which the

scheduled end date of the course is not more than 30 days after the date of the order

calling the student into active service.