MMA H.B. 1384 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS HIGHER EDUCATION H.B. 1384 By: Telford 4-9-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND Section 54.060(a), Education Code, provides that a nonresident student who is a resident of a state adjacent to Texas and who registers in any Texas public junior college or public technical school located in a county adjacent to the nonresident's home state shall pay tuition in an amount equal to the amount charged a Texas resident registered in a similar school in the nonresident's state. The same reciprocity applies to out-of-state students graduating or completing 45 semester hours at a participating junior college or technical school if they choose to attend or transfer to a public senior upper-level institution located within the same county as the junior college or technical school. PURPOSE H.B. 1384 would include public upper-level institutions of higher education among those institutions not applying the nonresident tuition fee, as described in this section, to a nonresident student residing in bordering states. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 54.060(a), Chapter 54, Education Code, to read as follows: Sec. 54.060. RESIDENT OF BORDERING STATE OR NATION OR PARTICIPANT IN STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM: TUITION. Adds nonresident tuition fee exemption for a student who registers at a public upper-level institution of higher education. Also, deletes the requirement of a nonresident student having to pay equivalent fees charged to Texas students registered at a similar institution in the state in which the nonresident student resides, and defines "public upper-level institution of higher education." SECTION 2. Effective beginning with tuition charged for fall semester, 1997. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.