e
The Attorney General of Texas
JIM MATTOX Decmber 5, 1984
Attorney General
Supreme CQurl BulldIn Mr. Kenneth H. Ashworth Opinion No. Jn-240
P. 0. Box 12549 Comissloner
*ustIn. TX. 78711- 2549 Coordinating Board Re: Nonresident tuition
512l4752501
Telex 910/874.1387
Texas College and University System at the Southwest Collegiate
Telecopier 5121475.0288 P. 0. BOX 12788 Institute for the Deaf
Austin, Texas 78711
714 Jackson. Suile 7W Dear Mr. Ashworth:
Dallas. TX. 75202.4506
214l7428944
You seek clarification of the proper method of determining
nonresident tuition at the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf
4824 Ahfta Ave.. Suite 180 [hereinafter SCID]. Specifically, you ask vhether the method of
El Paso, TX. 799052793 determining nonres:Ltlent tuition at the SCID, which is set forth in
915633-3494
section 131.005(b) of the Texas Education Code, is exclusive or
whether certain provisions under chapter 54 of the code, which allov
11Texas. Suite 700 certain nonresidents to pay resident tuition, also apply to the SCID.
n~‘~.ron. TX. 77w2.3111
7 234BsB Chapter 131 of the Education Code created the SCID. Section
131.005 provides for resident and nonresident tuition at the SCID as
St8 Broadway, Suite 312
follows:
Lubbock. TX. 79401-3479
8081747.5239 (a) P, Texas resident student enrolled in the
instituti-shall pay tuition at the rate p rovided
by law :%r enrollment at Howard County Junior
4309 N. Tenth, Suite B
McAllen. TX. 79501-1885 College &.d is not exempt from tuition fees under
512m92.4547 Section 5:.205 of this code.
(b) P. student who is not a resident of Texas
200 Maln PIUP. suite 400
San Antonlo. TX. 782052797
shall pa!‘tuition at a rate adopted by the board
512/2254191 of trust& in accordance with this subsection.
Before July 1 of each Year. the Coordinatinn
Board, T&s College and l&iv.&sity System, sha6
An Equal Opportunity/ determine: and report to the trustees the estimated
Affirmative Action Employa average cost to rhe institute, not including room
and board. of educating a student during the
academic year beginning the next fall. Based on
that est:lmete. the trustees shall adopt a
nonresidec,t tuition rate for the academic year
that wil.1 result Ian the institute collecting
tuition from each student in an amount
approximi.tely equal to the cost of educating the
student. (Emphasis added).
p. 1079
Mr. Kenneth il. Ashworth - Pl1ge 2 (Jn-240)
Chapter 54 of the Pdumtion Code sets forth the provisions for
tuition and fees which are ~~!nerally applicable
to all instltutit,rm of higher education, except
that as to junio:: colleges this chapter applies
only to the extent provided by Section 130.003(b)
of this code. (Em~~hasls added).
Sec. 54.002. Resolution af your request depends upon whether the
legislature intended that section 131.005 replace chapter 54 as a
complete and exclusive statment regarding tuition at the SCID.
No provision of chapter 131 expressly indicates whether the other
Education Code provisions apply to nonresident SCID students.
Attorney General Opinion JM-.Z4 (1983) concluded that the SCID is not a
“public junior college” under chapter 130 of the Education Code and,
accordingly, that the restr Lctlons of section 130.003 do not apply to
the SCID. The opinion did not address whether the provisions of
chapter 54 apply to the SC’LD. We now conclude that the language in
section 131.005 of the code and the unique nature of the SCID compel
the conclusion that the t.uition provisions in chapter 131 were
intended to be exclusive with regard to the SCID.
Section 131.005(a) emphasizes that resident students enrolled in
the SCID are not exempted from tuition fees under section 54.205 of
the Education Code. Subject to certain qualifying conditions, section
54.205 provides resident deaf and blind students with an exemption
from payment of tuition felra at any institution of higher education
which uses public funds. SW. 54.205(b). Thus, the thrust of section
131.005(a) Is that its pr~risions alone control resident tuition at
the SCID.
Similarly, section 131,O05(b) controls nonresident tuition at the
SCID. Although subsection (b) fails to expressly exclude all
potentially applicable tuition exemptions which appear elsewhere in
the Education Code, the provision sets forth, in mandatory language,
an “actual cost” nonresident tuition scheme. Thus, section 131.005(b)
specifically replaces the gmeral tuition rates established in chapter
54 df the code. When two statutes conflict with regard to the same
subject, the more specific provision controls over the general. white
v. Sturns, 651 S.W.Zd 372 (::ex. App. - Austin 1983, no writ). -
The specific nonresiient tuition exceptions about which you
Inquire appear in the same section of the Education Code which
establishes tuition rates. See 554.051. As indicated above, the
specific provisions of suction 131.005(b) supersede the general
tuition rates established in section 54.051 with regard to the SCID.
We conclude that the legiskture also intended section 131.005(b) to
exclude the general tuition $xceptions appearing in section 54.051.
p. 1080
:
3
Mr. Kenneth H. Ashworth - Page 3 (JM-240)
You express concern that the SCID will not be eligible to receive
appropriations unless it cmplies with a certain provision of the
current appropriations act, which provides:
In order to receive appropriations under this
Act, the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the
Deaf shall be subject to the rules and regulations
related to institutions of higher education cou-
tained in this A’:: and in the Texas Education
Code. (Emphasis aided).
Acts 1983. 68th Leg., ch. 1095, art. III, 51, at 6054 (item X16).
This provision of the appropriations act does not purport to
require that the SCID comply with all rules and regulations related to
institutions of higher educ.atiou’-Fbntained in the Texas Education
Code. Section 131.006(a) of the Education Code provides:
The governing board of the [SCID] may receive
appropriations for the institute’s operations only
if the board operzltes the Institute in compliance
with this chapter.
So long as the SCID is operated in compliance with the provisions of
chapter 131 and other rules and regulations applicable to it, it is
eligible to receive legj.c;lative appropriations for authorized
purposes. Attorney General 3pinion JM-24 (1983).
-SUMMARY
Section 131.005(b) of the Texas Education Code
controls the nonresident tuition rate at the
Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf to the
exclusion of chapter 54 of the Education Code.
-
JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas
TOMGREEN
First Assistant Attorney General
DAVID R. RICRARDS
Executive Assistant Attorney ,:eneral
RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee
p. 1081
Mr. Kenneth H. Ashvorth - Page 4 (JM-240)
Prepared by Jennifer Rigge
Assletant Attorney General
APPROVED:
OPINION COhMITTEE
Rick Gilpin. Chairman
Colin Carl
Susan Garrison
Tony Guillory
Jim Moellinger
Jennifer Riggs
Nancy Sutton
Bruce Youngblood
p. 1082