AN ACT

 1-1     relating to the operation of The University of Texas at

 1-2     Brownsville.

 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 78.02, Education Code, is amended to read

 1-5     as follows:

 1-6           Sec. 78.02.  ESTABLISHMENT; SCOPE.  (a)  The board shall

 1-7     establish an [upper-level educational] institution of higher

 1-8     education in the City of Brownsville, to be known as The University

 1-9     of Texas at Brownsville.

1-10           (b)  Except as provided by Subsections [Subsection] (c) and

1-11     (d) [of this section], the university shall teach only junior-,

1-12     senior-, and graduate-level courses.

1-13           (c)  The university may enter into a partnership agreement

1-14     with the [Texas] Southmost Union Junior College District in the

1-15     manner authorized by Subchapter N, Chapter 51, to offer [teach] a

1-16     lower-division, occupational, or technical course that is not

1-17     offered at the university.

1-18           (d)  The university shall, subject to the authority of the

1-19     Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, offer basic

1-20     lower-division courses to support bachelor of arts and bachelor of

1-21     science degree programs.  If the Southmost Union Junior College

1-22     District provides regular operational support for Texas Southmost

1-23     College and the partnership with the university authorized by

 2-1     Subsection (c), the university may offer additional lower-division

 2-2     courses.

 2-3           SECTION 2.  Section 78.04, Education Code, is amended to read

 2-4     as follows:

 2-5           Sec. 78.04.  FACILITIES.  The board shall make provisions for

 2-6     adequate physical facilities for use by the university, on land

 2-7     committed by the board of trustees of the Southmost Union Junior

 2-8     College District on the district's Texas Southmost College campus,

 2-9     subject to the normal requirements of the board and the Texas

2-10     Higher Education Coordinating Board.

2-11           SECTION 3.  Chapter 78, Education Code, is amended by adding

2-12     Sections 78.07 and 78.08 to read as follows:

2-13           Sec. 78.07.  LOWER-DIVISION ADMISSIONS.  The board, with the

2-14     concurrence of the board of trustees of the Southmost Union Junior

2-15     College District, shall determine the number of entering freshmen

2-16     who may be enrolled at the university each academic year.  In an

2-17     academic year preceding the 2005-2006 academic year, the number of

2-18     lower-division students enrolled may not exceed 900.

2-19           Sec. 78.08.  FORMULA FUNDING.  Notwithstanding Section

2-20     61.059, a formula adopted by the Texas Higher Education

2-21     Coordinating Board under that section shall provide that the

2-22     formula for upper-level general academic teaching institutions

2-23     shall be applied to upper-division semester credit hours at the

2-24     university for each state fiscal year preceding the state fiscal

2-25     year ending August 31, 2006.

 3-1           SECTION 4.  Not later than May 31, 1998, the Texas Higher

 3-2     Education Coordinating Board shall prepare an impact statement

 3-3     examining the initial implementation of this Act and shall deliver

 3-4     a copy of the statement to the board of regents of The University

 3-5     of Texas System, to the board of trustees of the Southmost Union

 3-6     Junior College District, and to the chair of the standing committee

 3-7     of each house of the legislature with primary jurisdiction over

 3-8     higher education.

 3-9           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the

3-10     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

3-11     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

3-12     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

3-13     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

3-14     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

3-15     passage, and it is so enacted.

         _______________________________     _______________________________

             President of the Senate              Speaker of the House

               I hereby certify that S.B. No. 274 passed the Senate on

         April 7, 1997, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 0; and that

         the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 24, 1997, by the

         following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 0.

                                             _______________________________

                                                 Secretary of the Senate

               I hereby certify that S.B. No. 274 passed the House, with

         amendment, on May 22, 1997, by the following vote:  Yeas 123,

         Nays 14, two present not voting.

                                             _______________________________

                                                 Chief Clerk of the House

         Approved:

         _______________________________

                     Date

         _______________________________

                   Governor