TC H.B. 2394 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS HIGHER EDUCATION H.B. 2394 By: Delisi 3-31-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND Currently, institutions of higher education are instructed to exempt veterans and veterans' dependents from the payment "of all dues, fees, and charges, including fees for correspondence courses but excluding property deposit fees, student service fees, and any fees or charges for lodging, board, and clothing..." [Section 54.203(a), Education Code]. This has afforded many veterans well-deserved exemptions and allowed them to attain quality educations. However, two courses in particular have proven to be financially burdensome for institutions of higher education when offering veteran exemptions for fees. These courses--truck driving and aircraft flight training--have high course fees for already under-funded programs. For example, Central Texas College in Killeen, Texas, offers an Aviation Science program, which has fees ranging from $740.00 to $3,000 for a two-credit hour class, or as much as $12,000 over the two-year program. The two students currently enrolled represent $24,000 in lost fee revenue for the college over a two-year period. The college is presented with the option to continue to lose money with the program or to shut down the program. PURPOSE H.B. 2394 would exclude fees for truck driving and aircraft flight training courses from exemptions for veterans and veterans' dependents so that institutions of higher education may maintain the courses as part of their curricula and cease loss of revenue from these fee exemptions. 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 54.203, Education Code, by adding Subsection (g) which states that exemptions for veterans and dependents as provided in Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to fees charged for a course in truck driving or aircraft flight training. SECTION 2. Effective beginning with fees charged for the 1997 fall semester. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.