HBA-AMW, JLV H.B. 2276 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2276
By: Giddings
Higher Education
3/18/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, tuition rebate incentives for individuals who complete degree
programs without excessive credit only apply to undergraduate students at
four year institutions. Tuition rebate incentives encourage students to
complete their undergraduate studies expeditiously and may save the state
money since students taking fewer courses and spending shorter periods of
time on campuses cost the state less money.   House Bill 2276 allows
qualified students at a public junior college, public technical institute,
or general academic teaching institution that offers only freshman-level
and sophomore-level courses to receive a tuition rebate incentive if they
complete a degree or certificate program of at least 60 credit hours while
attempting no more than three hours in excess of the minimum required
hours. 


RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill  2276 amends the Education Code to provide that a qualified
student at a public junior college, public technical institute, or general
academic teaching institution that offers only freshman-level and
sophomore-level courses is eligible for a rebate of a portion of the
undergraduate tuition the student has paid if the student is awarded an
associate degree or other degree or certificate in a program that requires
at least 60 semester credit hours and has attempted no more than three
hours in excess of the minimum number of semester credit hours required to
complete the degree or certificate, including transfer credits and course
credit earned exclusively by examination.  The bill provides that the
amount of tuition to be rebated to a student under these provisions is the
lesser of $500 or the amount of tuition paid by the student. 

The bill requires the legislature to appropriate an amount sufficient to
reimburse each public junior college for any rebates paid by the college in
the period used to determine the contact hours for the junior college's
appropriation.  The bill requires the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board (coordinating board) to transfer the appropriate portion of the
amount appropriated for tuition rebates to each public junior college in
the same manner as appropriations allocated to the college. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.