By: Coleman H.B. No. 4079
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to student fees at the University of Houston System.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 54, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 54.503 to read as follows:
Sec. 54.503. STUDENT SERVICES FEES. (a) For the purposes of
this section:
(1) "Student services" means activities which are
separate and apart from the regularly scheduled academic functions
of the institution and directly involve or benefit students,
including textbook rentals, recreational activities, health and
hospital services, medical services, intramural and
intercollegiate athletics, artists and lecture series, cultural
entertainment series, debating and oratorical activities, student
publications, student government, the student fee advisory
committee, student transportation services other than services
under Sections 54.504, 54.511, 54.512, and 54.513 of this code, and
any other student activities and services specifically authorized
and approved by the governing board of the institution of higher
education. The term does not include services for which a fee is
charged under another section of this code.
(2) "Compulsory fee" means a fee that is charged to all
students enrolled at the institution.
(3) "Voluntary fee" means a fee that is charged only to
those students who make use of the student service for which the fee
is established.
(b) The governing board of an institution of higher
education may charge and collect from students registered at the
institution fees to cover the cost of student services. The fee or
fees may be either voluntary or compulsory as determined by the
governing board. The total of all compulsory student services fees
collected from a student at an institution of higher education
other than The University of Texas at Austin or a component
institution of the University of Houston System for any one
semester or summer session shall not exceed $250. All compulsory
student services fees charged and collected under this section by
the governing board of an institution of higher education, other
than a public junior college, shall be assessed in proportion to the
number of semester credit hours for which a student registers. No
portion of the compulsory fees collected may be expended for
parking facilities or services, except as related to providing
shuttle bus services.
(c) The provisions of this section do not affect the
building use fees or other special fees authorized by the
legislature for any institution for the purpose of financing
revenue bond issues.
(d) All money collected as student services fees shall be
reserved and accounted for in an account or accounts kept separate
and apart from educational and general funds of the institution and
shall be used only for the support of student services. All the
money shall be placed in a depository bank or banks designated by
the governing board and shall be secured as required by law. Each
year the governing board shall approve for the institution a
separate budget for student activities and services financed by
fees authorized in this section. The budget shall show the fees to
be assessed, the purpose or functions to be financed, the estimated
income to be derived, and the proposed expenditures to be made.
Copies of the budgets shall be filed annually with the coordinating
board, the governor, the legislative budget board, and the state
library.
(e) Repealed by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 359, Sec.
16(2), eff. January 1, 2012.
(f) If the total compulsory fee charged under this section
is more than $150, the increase does not take effect unless the
increase is approved by a majority vote of the students voting in an
election held for that purpose or by a majority vote of the student
government at the institution. In subsequent years, an election
authorizing a fee increase must be held before the fee can be
increased by more than 10 percent of the fee approved at the last
student election.
(g) If a student registers at more than one institution of
higher education within a college or university system under
concurrent enrollment provisions of joint or cooperative programs
between institutions, the student shall pay all compulsory student
services fees to the institution designated as the home institution
under the joint or cooperative program. The governing board of the
college or university system may waive the payment of all
compulsory student services fees at the other institution or
institutions.
(h) Except for Subsection (g) of this section, this section
does not apply to The University of Texas at Austin or a component
institution of the University of Houston System.
(i) General revenue appropriations, other educational and
general income, and funds appropriated under Article VII, Section
17 or 18, of the Texas Constitution may be expended on a
proportional use basis to support the services, activities, and
facilities provided for in this section to the extent that the use
of such funds is not otherwise restricted by the Texas Constitution
or general law.
(j) Student fees at the University of Houston System shall
be used for their intended purposes.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.