PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The names of the University of Rhode Island and state college employees receiving free tuition worth up to $26,444 for themselves and their relatives is not public information, the head of Attorney General Peter Kilmartin's open-government unit has concluded.
But Assistant Attorney General Michael W. Field concluded that the state's Access to Public Records Act law does not apply to the 1,672 waivers that went to URI and state college employees, their spouses, children and domestic partners.
Field's finding came in response to a complaint filed by The Journal, which has uncovered instances of tuition waivers reserved for employees going to ineligible people, including the long-time assistant to the director of the private nonprofit Institute for International Sport.
Read a copy of the letter from the attorney general's office that explains the decision.