Attorney General Opinion JM-0240

e JIM MATTOX Attorney General The Attorney General of Texas Decmber 5, 1984 Supreme CQurl BulldIn P. 0. Box 12549 *ustIn. TX. 78711- 2549 512l4752501 Telex 910/874.1387 Telecopier 5121475.0288 Mr. Kenneth H. Ashworth Comissloner Coordinating Board Texas College and University System P. 0. BOX 12788 Austin, Texas 78711 714 Jackson. Suile 7W Dallas. TX. 75202.4506 214l7428944 4824 Ahfta Ave.. Suite 180 El Paso, TX. 799052793 915633-3494 11 Texas. Suite 700 n~‘~.ron. TX. 77w2.3111 7 234BsB St8 Broadway, Suite 312 Lubbock. TX. 79401-3479 8081747.5239 4309 N. Tenth, Suite B McAllen. TX. 79501-1885 512m92.4547 200 Maln PIUP. suite 400 San Antonlo. TX. 782052797 512/2254191 An Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employa Opinion No. Jn-240 Re: Nonresident tuition at the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf Dear Mr. Ashworth: You seek clarification of the proper method of determining nonresident tuition at the Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf [hereinafter SCID]. Specifically, you ask vhether the method of determining nonres:Ltlent tuition at the SCID, which is set forth in section 131.005(b) of the Texas Education Code, is exclusive or whether certain provisions under chapter 54 of the code, which allov certain nonresidents to pay resident tuition, also apply to the SCID. Chapter 131 of the Education Code created the SCID. Section 131.005 provides for resident and nonresident tuition at the SCID as follows: (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 College &.d is not exempt from tuition fees under Section 5:.205 of this code. (b) P. student who is not a resident of Texas shall pa!‘tuition at a rate adopted by the board 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 determine: and report to the trustees the estimated 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 TOM GREEN 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