By: Turner S.B. No. 505
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to full tuition exemption and partial lodging and board
1-2 fees exemption for Texas Army National Guard/ROTC students.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Chapter 54, Education Code, is amended by adding
1-5 new Section 54.212, to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 54.212. Texas Army National Guard/ROTC Students
1-7 (a) In this section:
1-8 (1) "exempt student" means a student who meets all the
1-9 requirements of Subsections (d) and (f).
1-10 (2) "ROTC institution" means an institution of higher
1-11 education, as defined by Sec. 61.003 of this code, that maintains
1-12 an Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC).
1-13 (3) "tuition fees" includes all dues, fees and
1-14 enrollment charges whatsoever for which exemptions may be lawfully
1-15 made, including correspondence courses, general property deposit
1-16 fees, and student services fees, but does not include fees or
1-17 charges for lodging, board, or clothing.
1-18 (b) The governing boards of ROTC institutions shall, for a
1-19 period not to exceed four years, annually exempt from the payment
1-20 of tuition fees a student selected by the ROTC institution's
1-21 selection committee to receive such an exemption.
1-22 (c) A student selected to receive an exemption from tuition
1-23 fees shall be exempt from the ROTC institution's fees and charges
2-1 for lodging and board for the first two years of enrollment.
2-2 (d) A student who is selected to receive an exemption under
2-3 Subsections (b) and (c) of this section shall be required to:
2-4 (1) be admitted to the institution's Army Reserve
2-5 Officers' Training Corps program, or be a participant in such a
2-6 program;
2-7 (2) become a member of the Texas Army National Guard
2-8 from the date of enrollment through completion of the degree
2-9 program;
2-10 (3) possess and maintain from the date of enrollment
2-11 through completion of the degree program the academic and personal
2-12 conduct standards established by each ROTC institution;
2-13 (4) maintain a minimum full-time enrollment of twelve
2-14 credit hours each semester, including military science courses; and
2-15 (5) accept a commission in the Texas Army National
2-16 Guard as a second lieutenant upon graduation from the ROTC
2-17 institution and serve no less than four years as a commissioned
2-18 officer.
2-19 (e)(1) No more than two hundred and fifty students shall be
2-20 exempt under this section for any one semester. The Texas Higher
2-21 Education Coordinating Board, after consultation with
2-22 representatives of the governing boards of ROTC institutions, shall
2-23 formulate and prescribe a plan governing the selection of students
2-24 desiring to qualify for exemption under this section and the
2-25 allocation of the exemptions available to each ROTC institution.
3-1 (2) The maximum number of exempt students for each
3-2 ROTC institution will be determined by the percentage of the
3-3 institution's Army ROTC enrollment in relation to statewide Army
3-4 ROTC enrollment. Percentages shall be calculated every odd
3-5 numbered year, beginning September 1, 1995. In the event an ROTC
3-6 institution does not recruit its maximum percentage of exempt
3-7 students, the Texas Higher Education Coordination Board shall be
3-8 informed by the ROTC institutions of the number of excess
3-9 exemptions and shall allocate excess exemptions to ROTC
3-10 institutions which have attained maximum recruiting percentages but
3-11 have additional students who are qualified under Subsection (f) to
3-12 receive the exemption.
3-13 (f) Selection committees consisting of three ROTC
3-14 institution representatives designated by the commissioner of
3-15 higher education, one of whom shall be a military science faculty
3-16 member, and a commissioned officer of the Texas Army National Guard
3-17 appointed by the adjutant general shall be established at ROTC
3-18 institutions to review applications of students who have applied
3-19 for the exemption, and to determine which students qualify to
3-20 receive the exemption set forth in the section. Selection of
3-21 qualified students shall be based upon the following factors:
3-22 (1) individual qualifications, with emphasis on the
3-23 leadership, communication and organizational abilities and skills
3-24 required of commissioned officers;
3-25 (2) the state's ethnic, racial and gender diversity;
4-1 and
4-2 (3) projected staffing requirements for the Texas
4-3 National Guard.
4-4 (g) Except in the case of an exempt student who is called
4-5 into active military service under Section 431.111 Government Code,
4-6 during the student's enrollment at an ROTC institution, exemption
4-7 from tuition fees shall be limited to four years, and exemption
4-8 from lodging and board fees and charges shall be limited to the
4-9 first two years of enrollment at the institution. Extensions of
4-10 exemption shall be granted for periods of active military duty
4-11 required of the student which occur during the student's four year
4-12 exemption period.
4-13 (h) In the event a student fails to maintain exempt status
4-14 as set forth in Subsection (b) of this section, the student shall
4-15 be required to either:
4-16 (1) serve four years as an enlisted member of the
4-17 Texas Army National Guard; or
4-18 (2) repay to the state of Texas the amount of the
4-19 exemption received for tuition fees, lodging and board charges and
4-20 fees, received by the student. Repayment must be completed within
4-21 five years after the date of the act or circumstance that resulted
4-22 in the student's ineligibility.
4-23 (3) the student's option shall be subject to approval
4-24 by the selection committee of the student's ROTC institution.
4-25 SECTION 2. The exemptions authorized under this section
5-1 shall be available beginning the 1996-97 academic year.
5-2 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.