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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2094 FILED ON: 1/19/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1277 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act ensuring students' access to academic transcripts. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester1/19/2023Michelle L. Ciccolo15th Middlesex1/25/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex1/31/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2094 FILED ON: 1/19/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1277 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative LeBoeuf of Worcester, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1277) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf, Michelle L. Ciccolo and Vanna Howard relative to students' |
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| 20 | 20 | | access to academic transcripts at institutions of higher education. Higher Education. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 1347 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act ensuring students' access to academic transcripts. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 15A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 19E the following section:- |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3 Section 19F. |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4 (a) Institutions of higher education shall not withhold a student's academic transcripts |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5solely due to that student's failure to pay any loan payments, fines, fees, tuition, or other |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6expenses owed to the institution, except that a student's academic credits and grades may be |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7withheld for any course for which that student's tuition and mandatory course fees are not paid in |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8full. For students paying on a per semester basis, such an institution may withhold a student’s 2 of 2 |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9academic credits or grades for any course taken in a semester for which that student’s tuition and |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10mandatory course fees have not been paid. |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11 (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent an institution of higher education |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12from withholding a student's diploma or degree due to that student's failure to pay any loan |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13payments, fines, fees, tuition, or other expenses owed to the institution. |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14 (c) This section shall apply to all postsecondary institutions including: (i) the system of |
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| 45 | 45 | | 15public institutions of higher education, established in section 5; (ii) private occupational schools, |
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| 46 | 46 | | 16as defined in section 263 of chapter 112; and (iii) private colleges, universities and other |
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| 47 | 47 | | 17institutions of higher learning. |
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| 48 | 48 | | 18 (d) The department of higher education shall promulgate regulations consistent with this |
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| 49 | 49 | | 19section necessary for its implementation. |
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