PICKETT of Virginia. It was brought to my attention that individual schools which participate in informal programs to allow foreign exchange students to attend school in the U.S. are required to charge these same students tuition. The F1 visa is for students who seek to enter the U.S. temporarily and solely to pursue a course of study. Under existing law. even if the school and the local school district do not want to charge the student for accepting an invitation to study in the U.S.. the student will not be able to receive an F1 visa without paying the fee. In some cases. the school. which otherwise would welcome a foreign exchange student. may be deterred from allowing them to attend due to the administrative burden of administering the fee. In other cases. American schools entering into informal sisterschool exchanges with a foreign school may find that they are forced to charge the foreign student tuition while the American student is attending their sisterschool for free. This tuition requirement does not apply to foreign students who come to the U.S. to study in a program designated by the Director of the United States Information Agency (USIA). These students receive a J visa and are not required to reimburse the school for the cost of their attendance. On the other hand. foreign exchange students in the U.S. under an F1 visa are usually attending school under informal arrangements. with a teacher or parent having invited them to spend time in the U.S. as a gesture of American hospitality and goodwill. Some schools participate in informal sisterschool exchanges where one of their students will go abroad and the school in turn will sponsor a foreign student here. Although these are informal. flexible. private arrangements between schools and students that are not designated by the USIA. they are no less valuable in developing goodwill and greater understanding among people of different nations. In many cases. it simply does not make sense to charge tuition to foreign exchange students simply because they have an F1 visa rather than a J visa. The legislation I am introducing today will give schools the ability to have the Attorney General waive the F1 visa tuition fee requirement. Schools that certify that the waiver will promote the educational interest of the local educational agency and will not impose an undue financial burden on the agency will be able to allow foreign exchange students to attend without charging a fee. On the other hand. schools that do not want to waive the fee will still be able to collect it.