AN ACT to authorize constituent institutions of the university of north carolina to consider recipients of FULL athletic scholarships as residents of north carolina.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 116‑143.6 reads as rewritten:

§ 116‑143.6.  Full scholarship students attending constituent institutions.

(a)        Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the Board of Trustees of a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina elects to do so, it may by resolution adopted consider as residents of North Carolina all persons who receive full scholarships, unless the scholarship is for athletics, scholarships to the institution from entities recognized by the institution and attend the institution as undergraduate students. The aforesaid persons shall be considered residents of North Carolina for all purposes by The University of North Carolina.

(b)        The following definitions apply in this section:

(1)        Full cost means an amount calculated by the constituent institution that is no less than the sum of tuition, required fees, and on‑campus room and board.

(2)        Full scholarship means a grant that meets the full cost for a student to attend the constituent institution for an academic year.

(c)        This section shall not be applied in any manner that violates federal law.

(d)       This section shall be administered by the electing constituent institution so as to have no fiscal impact.

(e)        In administering this section, the electing constituent institution shall maintain at least the current number of North Carolina residents admitted to that constituent institution.

(f)        A change in residency status under this section shall not impact the financial aid amount a student is able to receive as determined by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.