BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Research Center S.B. 1849
AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
At The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), more than 60 percent of students receive financial aid. Today, access to more sources of scholarship money are vitally important to UTEP students. The Texas Education Code allows Texas universities to create a Student Endowment Scholarship and Internship Program. S.B. 1849 creates such a program at UTEP.
As proposed, S.B. 1849 authorizes the board of regents of The University of Texas System to impose a fee on each student enrolled at UTEP to be dedicated to funding student scholarships and internships. This bill requires an advisory committee to determine the eligibility requirements for scholarship or internship funding and to select students to receive funding. Money awarded through an implemented Student Endowment Scholarship and Internship Program is authorized to be used to support students at otherwise unpaid internships. The bill provides that before the fee is implemented at UTEP it must be approved by a majority of UTEP's full student body.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter E, Chapter 54, Education Code, by adding Section 54.5351, as follows:
Sec. 54.5351. STUDENT ENDOWMENT FUND FEE; THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO. (a) Authorizes the board of regents of The University of Texas System to impose a student endowment fund fee on each student enrolled at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Prohibits the fee from being imposed unless approved by a majority vote of the students participating in a general student election held at UTEP under Section 56.243 (Election to Participate).
(b) Prohibits the amount of the fee from exceeding $1 per semester for each regular semester or summer session, unless the amount is increased as provided by Subsection (c).
(c) Authorizes the amount of the fee per semester to be increased from one academic year to the next only if approved by a majority vote of the students of UTEP participating in a general student election held for that purpose or, if the amount of the increase does not exceed five percent, by a majority vote of the legislative body of the student government of UTEP.
(d) Requires that a fee imposed under this section be used to establish a student endowment fund under Section 56.247 (Student Endowment Fund).
(e) Provides that a fee imposed under this section is in addition to any other fee authorized by law and is prohibited from being considered in determining the maximum amount of student services fees that are authorized to be imposed under Section 54.503(b) (relating to the authorization of the governing board of an institution of higher education to charge and collect certain fees from students registered at the institution).
SECTION 2. Provides that this act applies beginning with the 2009 fall semester.
SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 2009.