H.B. 1890 78(R) BILL ANALYSIS H.B. 1890 By: Morrison Higher Education Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, the tuition rebate program that permits college students to apply for a $1,000 rebate of his or her college tuition upon graduation if undergraduate course requirements have been completed "efficiently," which in some cases means the student has taken as few classes as possible. Furthermore, the number of rebates awarded appears to be low compared to graduation rates at Texas' public colleges and universities. As proposed, HB 1890 exempts up to nine hours of advanced placement classes from the total of "hours attempted." This bill makes the rebate available to more students while furthering the program's goal of efficiency by easing these requirements in the area of advanced placement credit. 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. ANALYSIS HB 1890 amends Section 54.0065(a), Education Code, to add an exception to the provisions governing tuition rebates to provide that, for purposes of this subsection, only the number of semester credit hours earned exclusively by examination in excess of nine semester credit hours is treated as hours attempted. The bill provides that the change in law made by this Act to Section 54.0065, Education Code, applies only to a student who graduates from an institution of higher education on or after the effective date of this Act. EFFECTIVE DATE This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2003.