BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Research Center H.B. 495
79R11786 KSD-D By: Miller (Fraser)
AUTHOR'S/SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
Current Texas law under the Education Code requires that the Tarleton State University System Center (university) in Killeen achieve 2,500 full-time students before becoming a stand-alone institution.
During the 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, the state's first university system center was enacted by S.B. 572, since there were no public upper-level higher education opportunities within a one-hour drive of Bell County. By the spring of 2004, the university enrolled 1,983 students, an increase of 56 percent since the opening in the fall of 1999.
H.B. 495 expedites the opening of Texas A&M University-Central Texas by lowering the threshold of full-time students necessary to achieve stand-alone status. It also clarifies that if the threshold is met during the 2006-2007 biennium, the new university would not be eligible for the small school supplement of $750,000.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 87.861, Education Code, by amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (e), as follows:
(d) Prohibits Texas A&M University-Central Texas, notwithstanding any other provision of this subchapter, from operating as a general academic teaching institution until the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) certifies that enrollment at the Tarleton State University System Center-Central Texas in Killeen has reached an enrollment equivalent of 1,000, rather than 2,500, full-time students for one semester.
(e) Provides that notwithstanding any other law, Texas A&M University-Central Texas is not eligible to receive the small institution supplement under THECB's General Academic Instruction and Operations Formula during the state fiscal biennium beginning September 1, 2005. Provides that this subsection expires September 1, 2007.
SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2005.