AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
S.B. 1723 requires institutions of higher education to waive tuition and fees for qualified members and dependents of the Texas Military Forces. To receive the exemption, the qualified student must enroll in courses with less than full enrollment and have exhausted other state and federal aid.
As proposed, S.B. 1723 amends current law relating to tuition and fee exemptions for certain military personnel and their spouses and dependent children for under-enrolled undergraduate classes at public institutions of higher education.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board in SECTION 1 (Section 54.2032, Education Code) of this bill.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, by adding Section 54.2032, as follows:
Sec. 54.2032. MILITARY, SPOUSES, AND CHILDREN: UNDER-ENROLLED CLASSES. (a) Defines, in this section, "dependent child."
(b) Requires the governing board of an institution of higher education to permit a person to enroll for course credit without payment of tuition in an undergraduate class offered by the institution, for which the maximum enrollment established for the class has not been met if the person is classified as a resident of this state under Subchapter B (Tuition Rates), is a member or veteran of the Texas Military Forces or is the spouse or dependent child of such a person, and satisfies other criteria established by this section.
(c) Requires a person who has not been admitted as a regular student of the institution to meet the minimum academic criteria for admission to the institution at which the under-enrolled class is offered to enroll in the class under this section. Requires a person to meet the minimum prerequisites and other enrollment criteria for the class to enroll in the class under this section.
(d) Provides that this section does not apply to a person who at the time of registration is eligible for a tuition and fee exemption under Section 54.203 (Veterans, Dependents, Etc.) or entitled to receive educational benefits for veterans under federal law that may be used for the payment of tuition.
(e) Requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to adopt rules to provide for the efficient and uniform application of this section.
SECTION 2. Provides that Section 54.2032, Education Code, as added by this Act, applies beginning with the 2011 fall semester.
SECTION 3. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2011.