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