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House Bill 1341 |
House Author: Walle |
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Effective: 6-17-11 |
Senate Sponsor: Zaffirini |
House Bill 1341 amends the Education Code to clarify that the fees for which, along with tuition, the governing board of each institution of higher education is required to provide alternative payment plans are mandatory fees and that the plan options apply to the payment of tuition and fees for a semester or a term of 10 weeks or longer, rather than for the fall and spring semesters. The bill changes the deadline for payment under the full payment option and for the first payment under the installment payment option to specify a full or first payment not later than the date set by each institution of higher education, rather than in advance of the start of the semester, and requires an institution, in providing for an installment payment option, to establish subsequent dates at periodic intervals within the applicable semester or term by which subsequent installment payments are due. The bill establishes similar provisions for the payment of tuition and mandatory fees for a term of less than 10 weeks rather than for a summer term and removes a provision setting out a payment option for a student enrolled in a summer term in a public junior college, public technical institute, or public state college.
House Bill 1341 prohibits a payment due date established by an institution of higher education from being later than the date established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for certifying student enrollment for the semester or term for purposes of formula funding. The bill removes a provision requiring a student who owes a balance of tuition and fees under certain circumstances to pay the balance owed not later than the next due date and instead authorizes an institution of higher education to collect, on a due date subsequent to a due date established for a semester or term, unpaid tuition and mandatory fee balances resulting from an adjustment to a student's enrollment status or an administrative action or unpaid residual balances of tuition and mandatory fees constituting less than five percent of the total amount of tuition and mandatory fees charged to the student by the institution for that semester or term.