LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD
Austin, Texas
 
FISCAL NOTE, 85TH LEGISLATIVE REGULAR SESSION
 
April 21, 2017

TO:
Honorable Kel Seliger, Chair, Senate Committee on Higher Education
 
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
 
IN RE:
SB1782 by West (Relating to the elimination of certain formula funding and dropped course restrictions for returning adult students at public institutions of higher education.), Committee Report 1st House, Substituted

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

The bill would amend the Education Code relating to the elimination of certain formula funding and dropped course restrictions for returning adult students at public institutions of higher education. The bill would require the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to adopt rules requiring institutions to allow students that reenroll at the institution or another institution of higher education following a break in enrollment covering the preceding 24 months and that have successfully completed at least 50 semester credit hours at an institution of higher education to drop one additional course from the amount currently allowed by the Education Code. The bill would provide that HECB not exclude semester credit hours for courses taken up to three times by students under this exception for hours reported for formula funding. Additionally, the bill would provide that the first 15 semester credit hours earned by a student under this exception not be counted as excess undergraduate credit hours.

Each of the six university system offices responded that the provisions of the bill would have no fiscal or no significant fiscal impact. In its response, THECB noted that the agency does not have the data for how many students would re-enroll if the exceptions provided by the bill were enacted and that it could not estimate potential costs. This estimate assumes any impact to formula funding would not be significant. Additionally, any impact would not be seen until fiscal year 2020 as formula funding is provided to institutions based on student data prior to the biennium that will be funded. As such, formula funding in fiscal years 2018 and 2019 will be based on students that are enrolled during fiscal year 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, 769 University of North Texas System Administration
LBB Staff:
UP, THo, DEH, JP