KEN PAXTON 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

May 11, 2015 

Raymund A. Paredes, Ph.D. 

Commissioner of Higher Education 

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board 

Post Office Box 12788 

Austin, Texas 78711 

Dear Commissioner Paredes: 

Opinion No. KP-0018 

Re: Institutions eligible to participate in the 

Texas B-On-Time Loan Program under 

Chapter 56, Subchapter Q of the Education 

Code (RQ-1230-GA) 

You ask for an opinion regarding which institutions are eligible to participate in the Texas 

B-On-Time Loan Program. 1 Through chapter 56, subchapter Q of the Education Code, the 

Legislature created the Texas B-On-Time Loan Program, the purpose of which is "to provide nointerest loans to eligible students to enable those students to earn baccalaureate degrees at public 

and private or independent institutions of higher education in this state." TEX. Eouc. CODE ANN. 

§ 56.452(b) (West Supp. 2014); see id.§§ 56.451-.465 (West 2012 & Supp. 2014). To be eligible 

for a Texas B-On-Time Loan, a person must "be enrolled ... in a baccalaureate degree program 

at an eligible institution." Id. § 56.455(3) (West Supp. 2014) (emphasis added). 

"Eligible institution" is defined for purposes of subchapter Q to include, among others not 

relevant here, "a private or independent institution of higher education that offers baccalaureate 

degree programs." Id. § 56.451(2)(C). "Private or independent institution of higher education" is 

further defined to include "only a private or independent college or university that is ... accredited 

by: (i) the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools; (ii) the 

Liaison Committee on Medical Education; or (iii) the American Bar Association." Id. 

§§ 56.451(3) (adopting the definition in subsection 61.003(15)(C) of the Education Code); 

61.003(15)(C). Thus, a "private or independent institution of higher education" is not an eligible 

institution for purposes of the Texas B-On-Time Loan Program unless it is accredited by one of 

the three accrediting agencies listed in subsection 61.003(15)(C) of the Education Code. 

You explain that although Paul Quinn College is not accredited by one of the three 

accrediting agencies listed in subsection 6 l.003(15)(C), it has argued that section 61.222 of the 

Education Code "authorizes the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to allow the college 

to participate in the Texas B-On-Time Loan Program." Request Letter at 2. Section 61.222 is 

1

Letter from Raymund A. Paredes, Comm'r of Higher Educ., Tex. Higher Educ. Coordinating Bd., to 

Honorable Greg Abbott, Tex. Att'y Gen. at I (Nov. 3, 2014), https://www.texasattomeygeneral.gov/opinion/requestsfor-opinion-rqs ("Request Letter"). 
Raymund A. Paredes, Ph.D. - Page 2 (KP-0018) 

located in Chapter 61, subchapter F of the Education Code, which authorizes and governs the 

Tuition Equalization Grants Program. See TEX. EDUC. CODE ANN. §§ 61.221-.230 (West 2012 & 

Supp. 2014). Similar to the Texas B-On-Time Loan Program, students may receive a tuition 

equalization grant only if they are enrolled in a statutorily-authorized institution. See id. § 61.221 

(West 2012) (explaining that a student must be "enrolled in any approved private Texas college or 

university"). Prior to the Eighty-third Legislative Session, only those institutions that were 

"private or independent institutions of higher education as defined by Section 61.003" could be 

approved institutions for purposes of the Tuition Equalization Grants Program. See id. § 61.222(a) 

(West Supp. 2014). In 2013, however, the Legislature added subsections 61.222(b) and (c), which 

state: 

(b) The coordinating board may temporarily approve a private or 

independent institution of higher education as defined by Section 

61.003 that previously qualified under Subsection (a) but no longer 

holds the same accreditation as public institutions of higher 

education. To qualify under this subsection, an institution must be: 

(1) accredited by an accreditor recognized by the board; 

(2) actively working toward the same accreditation as public 

institutions of higher education; 

(3) participating in the federal financial aid program under 20 

U.S.C. Section 1070a; and 

(4) a "part B institution" as defined by 20 U.S.C. Section 1061(2) 

and listed in 34 C.F.R. Section 608.2. 

( c) The coordinating board may grant temporary approval for a 

period of two years and may renew the approval once. 

Id.§ 61.222(b)-(c); see also Act of May 20, 2013, 83d Leg., R.S., ch. 1341, § 1, 2013 Tex. Gen. 

Laws 3555, 3555. 

You explain that Paul Quinn College is eligible to participate in the Tuition Equalization 

Grants Program because of the amendments to section 61.222. Request Letter at 2. However, the 

amendments to section 61.222 relate only to "the temporary approval of an institution to participate 

in the tuition equalization grant program." Act of May 20, 2013, 83d Leg., R.S., ch. 1341, 2013 

Tex. Gen. Laws 3555, 3555 (preamble); see also TEX. Gov'T CODE ANN. § 311.023(7) (West 

2013) (providing that courts may consider the preamble when construing a statute). Had the 

Legislature intended to similarly broaden the definition of"eligible institution" for purposes of the 

Texas B-On-Time Loan Program, it could have amended chapter 56, subchapter Q of the 

Education Code or the definition of "private or independent institution of higher education" in 

section 61.003 of the Education Code to do so. When the Legislature employs a phrase in one 

section of a statute and excludes it in another, the "term should not be implied where excluded." 

Laidlaw Waste Sys., Inc. v. City of Wilmer, 904 S.W.2d 656, 659 (Tex. 1995). Thus, section 61.222 
Raymund A. Paredes, Ph.D. - Page 3 (KP-0018) 

does not operate to expand the institutions eligible to participate in the Texas B-On-Time Loan 

Program. 
Raymund A. Paredes, Ph.D. - Page 4 (KP-0018) 

SUMMARY 

Sections 56.451 and 61.003 of the Education Code require 

that a private or independent institution of higher education be 

accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern 

Association of Colleges and Schools, the Liaison Committee on 

Medical Education, or the American Bar Association in order to be 

considered an eligible institution for purposes of the Texas B-OnTime Loan Program. 

CHARLES E. ROY 

First Assistant Attorney General 

BRANTLEY STARR 

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel 

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Very truly yours, 

~'?~ KEN PAXTON 

Attorney General of Texas 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee