| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to tuition and fee exemptions at a public institution of |
|
|
higher education or a career school or college for a student meeting |
|
|
certain income and grade requirements. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 54, Education Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 54.204 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 54.204. EXEMPTION FOR STUDENTS MEETING CERTAIN INCOME |
|
|
AND GRADE REQUIREMENTS. (a) The governing board of an institution |
|
|
of higher education shall exempt from the payment of tuition and |
|
|
required fees charged by the institution an undergraduate student |
|
|
who: |
|
|
(1) is a resident of this state; |
|
|
(2) is a member of a household with a total annual |
|
|
income below $100,000; and |
|
|
(3) maintains an overall grade point average of at |
|
|
least 3.0 on a four-point scale or the equivalent for all coursework |
|
|
attempted at the institution. |
|
|
(b) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall |
|
|
adopt rules governing the granting or denial of an exemption under |
|
|
this section, including rules relating to the determination of a |
|
|
student's eligibility for an exemption. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 132, Education Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Section 132.0612 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 132.0612. TUITION EXEMPTION FOR STUDENTS MEETING |
|
|
CERTAIN INCOME AND GRADE REQUIREMENTS. As a condition to receiving |
|
|
a certificate of approval under this chapter, including renewal of |
|
|
a certificate of approval, a career school or college must provide |
|
|
an exemption from the payment of tuition and required fees charged |
|
|
by the school for a course or program, as applicable, to a student |
|
|
who is exempt from the payment of tuition and fees at a public |
|
|
institution of higher education as provided by Section 54.204. |
|
|
SECTION 3. (a) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating |
|
|
Board shall adopt the rules required by Section 54.204, Education |
|
|
Code, as added by this Act, as soon as practicable after the |
|
|
effective date of this Act. |
|
|
(b) Section 54.204, Education Code, as added by this Act, |
|
|
applies beginning with tuition and required fees charged for the |
|
|
2025 fall semester. Tuition and required fees charged for an |
|
|
academic period before that semester are governed by the law in |
|
|
effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the |
|
|
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Section 132.0612, Education Code, as added by |
|
|
this Act, applies to a certificate of approval issued or renewed |
|
|
under Chapter 132, Education Code, on or after the effective date of |
|
|
this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
|
|
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
|
|
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
|
|
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
|
|
Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |