S.B. No. 532




AN ACT
relating to tuition and other charges and fees imposed by the governing board of a junior college district. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 130.003, Education Code, is amended to read as follows: (b) To be eligible for and to receive a proportionate share of the appropriation, a public junior college must: (1) be certified as a public junior college as prescribed in Section 61.063 [of this code]; (2) offer a minimum of 24 semester hours of vocational and/or terminal courses; (3) have complied with all existing laws, rules, and regulations governing the establishment and maintenance of public junior colleges; (4) collect, from each full-time and part-time student enrolled, matriculation and other session fees in the amounts required by law or in the amounts set by the governing board of the junior college district as authorized by this title; (5) grant, when properly applied for, the scholarships and tuition exemptions provided for in this code; and (6) for a public junior college established on or after September 1, 1986, levy and collect ad valorem taxes as provided by law for the operation and maintenance of the public junior college. SECTION 2. Section 130.084, Education Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 130.084. POWERS AND DUTIES. (a) The governing board [of trustees] of a junior college district [districts] shall be governed in the establishment, management, and control of a public [the] junior college in the district by the general law governing the establishment, management, and control of independent school districts insofar as the general law is applicable. (b) The governing board of a junior college district may set and collect with respect to a public junior college in the district any amount of tuition, rentals, rates, charges, or fees the board considers necessary for the efficient operation of the college, except that a tuition rate set under this subsection must satisfy the requirements of Section 54.051(n). The governing board may set a different tuition rate for each program, course, or course level offered by the college, including a program, course, or course level to which a provision of Section 54.051 applies, as the governing board considers appropriate to reflect course costs or to promote efficiency or another rational purpose. SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 130.003, and Section 130.084, Education Code, as amended by this Act, apply beginning with tuition charged for the 2005 fall semester. Tuition charged for an academic period before the 2005 fall semester is covered 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. 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, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________ President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 532 passed the Senate on April 28, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 27, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 29, Nays 0. ______________________________ Secretary of the Senate I hereby certify that S.B. No. 532 passed the House, with amendment, on May 25, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 144, Nays 0, two present not voting. ______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House Approved: ______________________________ Date ______________________________ Governor