LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 79TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

April 29, 2005

TO:	Honorable Geanie Morrison, Chair, House Committee on Higher Education
FROM:	John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB3119 by Giddings (Relating to the grade point average of and imposition of a fee on a student who repeats a course at a public institution of higher education.), As Introduced

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

Under the bill, each institution of higher education would be required to adopt a uniform policy for calculating the grade point average of a student who completes a course at the institution that the student has previosly completed at the same institution. The govering board of the instituon may impose a fee for a course that has been previously completed. The amount of the fee may not exceed what would be charged to a non-resident who undertakes a course three or more times. The money collected by the fee would not be considered tuition or a required course fee for the purposes of funding formulas established by the Higher Education Coordinating Board. 

The higher education institutions would be able to implement provisions of the bill within existing resources. The universities have indicated the additional revenue generated from the fee would not be significant.

Local Government Impact

The Higher Education Coordinating Board estimates that community and technical colleges would receive $4 million in additional tuition revenue. Universities would receive approximately $7 million in additional fee revenue. The fee could potentially alter the behavior of students who repeat courses and a smaller number would actually repeat courses.

Source Agencies:

710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 758 Board of Regents, Texas State University System Central Office, 768 Texas Tech University System Administration, 769 University of North Texas System Administration, 781 Higher Education Coordinating Board, 783 University of Houston System Administration

LBB Staff:

JOB, CT, RT, GO