By Hudson H.B. No. 2433
74R7791 JSA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to an exemption from tuition, required fees, and room and
1-3 board at public institutions of higher education for certain
1-4 high-performing students from low-income families.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 54.212 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 54.212. HIGH-PERFORMING STUDENTS FROM LOW-INCOME
1-9 FAMILIES. (a) In this section, "family income" means the combined
1-10 gross income for purposes of federal income tax of:
1-11 (1) the student and the student's parents, if the
1-12 student is not married; or
1-13 (2) the student, the student's parents, and the
1-14 student's spouse, if the student is married.
1-15 (b) A student at an institution of higher education is
1-16 exempt from the payment of tuition and required fees authorized by
1-17 this chapter for a term or semester if the student:
1-18 (1) on the day the semester or term begins:
1-19 (A) is less than 25 years of age; and
1-20 (B) is a resident of this state who has resided
1-21 in this state continuously for the preceding 12 months;
1-22 (2) graduated in the top 25 percent of the student's
1-23 graduating class at an accredited high school or graduated from an
1-24 accredited high school and scored in the top 20 percent on a
2-1 nationally recognized and standardized college admission
2-2 examination; and
2-3 (3) had a family income of $16,000 or less for the
2-4 preceding year.
2-5 (c) A person may not receive an exemption under this section
2-6 for more than 12 semesters or terms.
2-7 (d) A person is not eligible for an exemption under this
2-8 section if the person's tuition and required fees for the semester
2-9 or term are or will be paid directly to the institution of higher
2-10 education by the United States or by a person other than the
2-11 student or the student's family or guardian from funds other than
2-12 funds of the student or the student's family or guardian.
2-13 (e) To receive an exemption under this section, a person
2-14 must apply for the exemption in the manner provided by the
2-15 institution in which the student registers. The governing board of
2-16 the institution shall require an applicant to submit satisfactory
2-17 evidence that the applicant is eligible for the exemption.
2-18 SECTION 2. Chapter 56, Education Code, is amended by adding
2-19 Subchapter Z to read as follows:
2-20 SUBCHAPTER Z. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
2-21 Sec. 56.901. ROOM AND BOARD FOR HIGH-PERFORMING STUDENTS
2-22 FROM LOW-INCOME FAMILIES. (a) An institution of higher education
2-23 that provides housing to its students shall provide housing and
2-24 food service, if available to residents of the student housing,
2-25 free of charge to a student for a semester or term in which the
2-26 student receives an exemption from tuition and required fees under
2-27 Section 54.212.
3-1 (b) The institution shall pay the applicable charges for the
3-2 housing and food provided to the student from general revenue
3-3 appropriated to the institution for general academic purposes,
3-4 unless the institution elects to pay those charges from another
3-5 source of available funds.
3-6 SECTION 3. Section 1 of this Act applies beginning with
3-7 tuition and required fees imposed for the fall semester of 1995.
3-8 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-13 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-14 passage, and it is so enacted.