By Smithee                                            H.B. No. 1831
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to tuition rates which may be charged nonresidents
    1-3  attending certain institutions of higher education.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
    1-6  amended by adding Section 54.0513 to read as follows:
    1-7        Sec. 54.0513.  Nonresident Tuition Rates for Certain
    1-8  Institutions.  (a)  Nonresident students at a general academic
    1-9  teaching institution may be charged a rate of tuition less than the
   1-10  nonresident tuition rate established in Section 54.0512 of this
   1-11  code if the governing board of the institution finds and certifies
   1-12  to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board that all of the
   1-13  following conditions exist:
   1-14              (1)  enrollment of nonresidents, excluding nonresident
   1-15  aliens, at the institution has declined by at least 15 percent
   1-16  since the fall semester of 1984;
   1-17              (2)  an average of no less than 100,000 square feet of
   1-18  space in existing facilities of the institution has been taken out
   1-19  of service and remained unused or underused over the same period;
   1-20              (3)  the economic region served by the institution
   1-21  crosses state lines into contiguous states, and the students served
   1-22  by the institution tend to remain in the economic region and
   1-23  contribute to the economic well-being of the entire region; and
    2-1              (4)  a reduction of nonresident tuition rates at the
    2-2  institution will not reduce or otherwise impair higher educational
    2-3  opportunities for Texas residents.
    2-4        (b)  The rate established by the governing board under this
    2-5  section may not be less than that charged to Texas residents at the
    2-6  institution for the academic year in which it is charged.
    2-7        (c)  The governing board shall make such determination for
    2-8  each academic year in which it finds that all of the above-stated
    2-9  conditions exist.  If no finding is made for an academic year,
   2-10  nonresidents attending the institution will be charged the rate of
   2-11  nonresident tuition established by Section 54.0512 of this code.
   2-12  Provided, however, that students who have been permitted to attend
   2-13  an institution and pay the special rate described in this section
   2-14  shall be entitled to continue to pay such rate for five calendar
   2-15  years from the date of the beginning of their first semester or
   2-16  summer session at the university, or until such time as they
   2-17  complete all of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree at the
   2-18  university, whichever occurs sooner.
   2-19        SECTION 2.  This Act shall be applied to out-of-state tuition
   2-20  rates commencing with the fall semester of 1993.
   2-21        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-22  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-23  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-24  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-25  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
    3-1  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
    3-2  passage, and it is so enacted.