LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD

Austin, Texas

FISCAL NOTE, 85TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION

May 12, 2017

TO:	Honorable J. M. Lozano, Chair, House Committee on Higher Education
FROM:	Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	SB537 by Hinojosa (Relating to requiring the disclosure of special course fees at public institutions of higher education.), As Engrossed

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would amend the Education Code as it relates to tuition and fees. Under the provisions of the bill, institutions of higher education would be required to disclose descriptions of and the amounts for any applicable special course fees for courses in the institutions' course catalogs.
 
It assumed that the costs to institutions of higher education associated with updating course catalogs to conform to the bill's requirements would not be significant and could be absorbed within existing resources.
 
The provisions of the bill would begin with course catalogs published for the 2018-19 academic year. The bill would take effect immediately if it receives a two-thirds vote in each house; otherwise, the bill would take effect September 1, 2017.

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.

Source Agencies:

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

LBB Staff:

UP, THo, JJ, AKU, GO