LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE 74th Regular Session May 6, 1995 TO: Honorable Irma Rangel, Chair IN RE: Committee Substitute Committee on Higher Education forHouse Bill House of Representatives No. 31 Austin, Texas FROM: John Keel, Director In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on House Bill No. 31 (Relating to the calculation of the grade point average of a student who repeats a course at an institution of higher education) this office has determined the following: The bill would make no appropriation but could provide the legal basis for an appropriation of funds to implement the provisions of the bill. The bill would require each public institution of higher education to adopt a uniform policy for calculating the grade point average of students who repeat courses at the same institution. The bill would limit the policy to courses that are repeated only once and only 15 semester credit hours per semester could be changed each semester. The policy would not apply to graduate-level courses or undergraduate courses which were completed for the first time before the fall semester 1996. The bill would set the tuition rate for a repeated undergraduate course at an amount determined by the Coordinating Board to be the full cost of education for each semester credit hour. It is anticipated that implementation of the bill would require some computer programming at institutions of higher education. However, since the policy would not be implemented until Fall 1996, it is expected that computer programming changes would be made during the normal course of software maintenance and upgrade with any increased costs being covered by current appropriated and local funds. It is anticipated that implementation of the bill would increase the total number of state formula funded semester credit or contact hours. However, the tuition rate specified by the bill as the full cost of education for those additional hours at general academic teaching institutions would offset anticipated increased demand for formula funding. It is presumed for purposes of this fiscal note that community/junior colleges would increase their tuition similarly. No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated. Source: LBB Staff: JK, MK, WRR